


Nocturne-Final Stand

by Writerperson78



Category: King of Fighters
Genre: Alcohol, Angst and Hurt/Comfort, Blood and Gore, Blood and Violence, Canon-atypical violence, Drinking, Established Relationship, F/M, Fights, Hurt/Comfort, Injury, Kissing, Nipple Piercings, Oral Sex, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Porn with Feelings, Post-Coital Cuddling, Ratings have indeed gone up, Ratings to likely go up, Sex, Tongue Piercings, Violence, yes adelheid had piercings from a previous story
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-02-02
Updated: 2021-03-04
Packaged: 2021-03-13 20:47:29
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 8
Words: 29,829
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29159883
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Writerperson78/pseuds/Writerperson78
Summary: Having lived his whole life with his father's cursed blood-which has been known to come out from time to time, especially under the command of his sister's music-Adelheid had always sort of tried to push it down and forget about it. He is now at the point where he no longer has that luxury; going berserk, even without any catalysts, means that if he does not get some sort of control of it now, it could threaten to destroy those close to him...and possibly himself in the process.He needs to figure out what to do, before it's too late...(Updated! Chapter 8.)
Relationships: Adelheid Bernstein/Seirah | Whip





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> As most know by know-if you’ve been keeping up with this ‘verse, I base my Adelheid on as much material as possible; whatever the game gives-of which I WISH it gave more-but also the comics-since, again, the games have their limits on what they give(despite him being the ‘other protagonist’ of the Ash Saga.) 
> 
> Adelheid is a good and honorable dude, mostly; this we know. However, the comics show off his dark side; it might be his old man’s Orochi tainted blood, or something else, but he is capable of going berserk to his sisters music, sending him into an uncontrollable, murderous rage. I loved this character bit so much that it’s what I started using for the fics, since I feel like it adds conflict to a character with already interesting potential. He loves his family, but gets torn. He’ll kill in self defense(he does this in a comic when someone tries to kill his sister, pretty brutally too), but doesn’t like to kill(though when he’s berserk, it’s another story; it’s called ‘the killing spirit’ in the rough translation I saw.) He still seems to work with his sister doing some of his family business, though I imagine he tries to keep it cleaner. 
> 
> In this soon to be probably fairly long story, Adelheid realizes that he cannot run from this side of himself forever. Whether or not he can get a hold of it, though, or if it will take him over and destroy him, is up in the air. 
> 
> It may not be the fastest moving story I’ve done...but they don’t all need to be, eh? 
> 
> I mention ages in the story at one point; Adelheid would be twenty-three in this timeline. In this ‘verse, since his canon age is never given, I had put him at 22 since it seemed to line up with things(he was still born after Rugal got the power.) Rose is four years younger. Whip is 19 at the start in Etude(this was me not buying the wiki age because she is specifically K’s OLDER sister, and K’ is around 18), and she would be twenty now at this point(taking place in March.)
> 
> Finally this does, like the others, take place during the XI storyline; Rose is more of a background character, and is currently somewhat muddled by Botan’s influence(soon to be total control). This doesn’t break until after XIII, so mostly when Rose shows up in this ‘verse, there are Those from the Past issues going on(even if they’re quite in the background as they are.)
> 
> Rated M for sure for language, violence, and sexual themes, though is likely getting bumped up to E later on depending on how raunchy I decide to get with the naughty scenes. Don’t be surprised if it does.

“Dog racing?” Adelheid asked, pouring two drinks; one for himself, and one for his guest. Mixing them-they were Irish coffees, as it was a bit earlier in the evening-he brought them over to the table of one of the Sky Noah’s meeting rooms; a large, fairly lavish affair with a long table. 

The only two people sitting at it were Adelheid himself and a man named Wilhelm. The latter was a leader of another sort of ‘money lending’ group, whom he had dealt with for years alongside their more legitimate, typical everyday business with various corporations.

And, of course, by moneylending, that also meant some minor laundering, some fight fixing, the occasional bit of race fixing, and a few other small things. Adelheid and Rose were still in the underworld along side the family's legit endeavors, though he had taken great pains to clean up the family business toward a more gray area. He was generally unwilling to kill unless the targets were particularly deserving-there were some particularly despicable types who he had little patience for and who would often slip outside the law-or attacked them first, after which Adel had little trouble using deadly force on at that point. But he generally tried to keep the business at least _mostly_ legit. 

Rose was oft willing to go a darker gray, and it was the source of many of their arguments-but they mostly found a sort of a medium they could deal with. 

_Most_ of the time. Other times, the piano happened.

And with that, carnage; courtesy of the tainted blood that his father had passed onto him after he lost the fight to Goenitz in his youth, which his sister would affectionately refer to as his 'killing spirit.' 

Adelheid overall liked Wilhelm, though, him being one of the longer-time partners who hadn’t tried to betray them after their father’s death, or tried to puff themselves up to threaten the young man or his sister, testing them. 

“Believe it or not, yes,” said the older man, taking the drink and sipping it. He nodded in approval. Wilhelm was in his late forties-much older than the twenty-three year old-but he trusted Adelheid as being one of the better folks one could actually work with in the underworld. His old man he didn’t trust at all, and he was leery around Rose, but he trusted Adel. “There seems to be some money in it coming up. Quite a bit, if these other people I was working with is to be believed.”

Adel scratched his head, sipping his own drink. He wore his long jacket still, even inside; he often wore it to meets like this, as it gave him a bit more of the look of someone in charge. Crossing his leg over, he scratched absently at some of the leather on top of his heavy, steel-shod boot. He finally looked back at him. 

“What do these people need, again? This sort of thing hasn’t been particularly lucrative in awhile. Moderately so, at best." Pondering, he sort of wished there would be another tournament soon, so he could take part in what he truly loved; fighting one-on-one, or at least three-on-three, in a sanctioned event against some of the other great fighters of the world...instead of dealing with the shadier things. 

Alas, he was stuck here awhile more.

"Resources," Wilhelm replied as he took another sip. "To be sure, funding. They do not have enough to do what they need, so I said I would have a few words with someone about it."

"And that someone is me, I suppose," he scowled. "Didn't you know _anyone_ else for this?" 

"Not that could put up what they needed."

"The hell sorts of racing dogs are they speaking of, here?" He blinked, sipping his Irish coffee. 

"High pedigree lineages, of course. Not only that. Transport. Also greasing some palms of the people behind the scenes. Finally, they also need some armaments, too."

" _Armaments_?" Adel asked, nonplussed. "Are they planning to hunt the losers or something?"

"No, no, _nothing_ like that!" Wilhelm said, almost amused. "You and I both know they are an expensive investment that need to be transported. Plus kept safe until they can make it over to the tracks. And then to deal with the betting rings...you know others would try to take advantage. I’m pretty sure the problem is that they have rivals who are looking to knock them over during all of this.” 

Adel sighed somewhat in relief, almost chuckling at his own denseness there. Racing was quite a popular affair in the underworld; of course potential rivals could try to step in to steal valuable cargo, especially if word got around of a bit of a lucrative new shot. He was somewhat glad here; admittedly this sort of thing was exactly the thing he was okay with. Most of the money that would be passing hands and moving around would be coming from other rich types. He was more surprised that this was becoming a thing again. 

And it was true that whenever running an operation like this, guards were imperative. 

“Alright. I’ll do some checking myself, first. As I always do,” he added, to not make it seem like he didn’t trust Wilhelm. He actually did trust the man; he worked with him enough that he counted him and his small syndicate regular partners. But still, people can, and did, overlook things. 

“I know you will.”

“Do they have a deadline?”

“Three days, they said. Else they’re walking.”

“I don’t quite like that they’re setting the terms on this…” Adelheid scowled. “Usually, that’s my job.”

“I know. And when they told me that, I almost walked. Until I saw the price tag.”

 _We have more money than we know what to do with_ , Adelheid thought to himself. _Do I really need to take this?_

Taking another drink of his Irish coffee-it was particularly good today-he folded his arms. “I suppose we can go along with it. But. You know the terms, Wilhelm.”

“If it looks like it’ll go bad, you’re walking,” he replied.

“Yes.” _And I may end up paying them a visit if that happens._

“Okay. Do what you have to. Meet me back at my hotel tomorrow. We’ll go over the finer details, and then we’ll head over to meet the people involved. Once I find out where we’re meeting them.”

“Probably somewhere out of the way, by the sound,” he snorted. “They sound a little bit on the shadowy side.” 

He shrugged, giving a slightly guilty smirk. “I doubt it’ll be that bad,” he said, in the understatement of a lifetime. “I’m telling you, I looked closely. And I’ll look again for you, if that’ll make you feel better. While you look.”

Adelheid nodded, finishing his drink. “Just don’t let this turn into another Steel Falcon incident.”

Wilhelm coughed at that. “That one was on me, yes.” 

“Oh...I’ll need names,” Adelheid said. “How many do you have?”

“Ed is the leader. Edward Fischer. A bit older than myself. Been dealing in the racing circuit as far as I’ve seen for a very long time.”

“Anyone else?”

“He keeps two bodyguards with him. Sam and Sammy.”

“...Not very creative, are they?” Adelheid snorted laughter again. “Why do these organized crime rings always have to sound so damn obvious?”

“Your old man’s ship was called the _Black Noah_ , for Christ’s sake.”

Adel glared at him for that one. Wilhelm put his hands up at that.

“Sorry, Adelheid. Sometimes slips out.” He looked genuinely remorseful. 

The younger man shook his head and sighed. “It’s okay. I like the Sky Noah better, anyhow.”

“Anyway,” he continued. “I can get a list of names if you want for you tonight. I’ll be checking stuff one more time, like I said. You do what you want. Just get back to me about it as soon as you can so I can arrange the meeting.” 

_I hope this doesn’t result in a fight_ , he thought to himself, sliding his glass across the table. “Do that,” he said. “Email it to me.”

Wilhelm stood, giving a small bow to the young man. “Let’s hope this one’s as lucrative as some of our better ones, then.” He grabbed his coat, nodding as he walked out of the room. 

Scratching his head-now alone-Adelheid mulled everything over. _It seems normal,_ he thought. _We’ve dealt with races before. Nothing there. I’ve worked with Wilhelm before._

_Yet there seems to be something that feels like it’s missing._

Noticing the time-it was close to dinner-he called Whip. It didn’t take her long to answer. 

“Hi!” she said, cheerfully. “Was about to call you. I knew you had to be getting hungry,” she chuckled. 

“How did you guess?”

“You’re always hungry,” she replied. “I’m off tonight, by the way.”

“Coming over?” 

“Of course,” she replied. He could almost hear her smiling. “Where do you want to go tonight?”

“Hmm,” he thought. “Buffet?”

“Want to scare the people again?”

He coughed. Adelheid’s massive appetite was a running joke between them, as anyone else who saw the young man inhale food was generally quite shocked. 

“I’ll take that as a yes,” she filled in. “I’ll be there soon.”

“I’ll be in my room,” he replied. “I’ll drive us there after you get here.”

As they said their goodbyes, he went up to go check his emails for whatever info he needed. He sent out a few himself, asking around about the aforementioned people Wilhelm had mentioned. 

By the time he was done, he heard the knock at his door within the hour; standing and grabbing his coat, he held his arm out as soon as he opened the door to catch Whip. It was something he’d always do as she loved to jump immediately on him, and knew he could catch her without even budging, no matter how hard she jumped. 

Kissing her deeply-nipping at her lower lip, he smiled. “You were fast,” he said, putting her down so she could put her bag in the corner for when they got back. 

“Always,” she said. “Let’s go.”

“Long day?” he asked. 

“Kinda,” she said, rubbing her neck. He slid his hand behind it, rubbing it himself a moment as they walked. 

“I’ll take care of that when we get back,” he grinned. 

“I trust you,” she smirked, pausing to pat Gwan on the head before they stepped out of the colossal airship and toward where the vehicles were parked. 


	2. Chapter 2

Settling in the bed with his legs crossed, Adel lounged happily after their evening session. Having not bothered getting dressed, the shower-and everything else beforehand, of course-had felt wonderful as always. Now he was almost sleepy; this always amused Whip as he was fairly easy to get into an almost brain-dead state when it came to things.

She soon joined him on the bed, her hair still damp, sitting with her legs behind her. She too had a nicely relieved, pleasurable feeling in her entire body. It had been a few nights since their last visit, as they had been busy with everything; but they would be free to see each other for a few days now. She leaned against him, sliding her arms over his chest as she teased one of his still-healing nipple rings; they felt better each week. She sort of loved these things. They not only looked good, but they provided her with some extra things to tease on him. 

She got  _ quite _ attached to his tongue stud, too. 

He shivered at this, nuzzling her head a moment. “Hoping I get the messages I need sooner than later. I’d like to set all of this up already.”

“It seems fairly...normal?” she said. “I ran the name in a cursory check. Nothing came up on our systems. I ran it under the radar, of course,” she smirked. “We have a  _ pretty _ huge database...as you could guess. If this guy was going to come up, he would.” 

Adel smiled; his lover was resourceful, and fast...and he hadn’t even asked her to. “Thank you. I didn’t find anything either-and neither did Wilhelm. I think we’re fine. It’s just a matter of setting up the meet and getting it over with. I suppose we’ll have some more grounding in something a little less...nasty,” he said, thinking of the arms dealing his sister still did, that he would, of course, help out with when necessary. 

She stretched out next to him under the covers; her back and neck also felt good from the rather excellent backrub he gave her before they had gotten intimate. They had enjoyed dinner, and as usual, the people at the buffet-a nice, middle of the road one as they preferred to frequent, not low-quality, but nothing overly fancy-were sort of baffled at how much Adelheid could put away. He had spent considerable time at the meat counter, and she always laughed at how he could strip a rib-even a large one-in one go in his mouth. 

More than some of the amusing antics, she liked how the two developed such things around one another. It was something that their lives didn’t really offer them before; that they never much thought about. It was far more stringent and formal for them for most of it. The fact they had discovered they could act even somewhat dumb around each other was almost refreshing- almost like catching up on a youth that neither of them had. 

Afterward, they had ended up at one of the pubs around for two drinks each; not enough for him to impair his driving at all. It had been a fairly good night, all told, made even better by their rather intense lovemaking session upon their return. 

Whip grabbed a book she had been reading from his shelf-some sort of sci-fi thing she had found, with him stating that he didn’t remember the last time he had read that one, as it was a couple of decades old as it was-and had tucked up next to him. It was likely to be a slow night, and Adel debated when to call down for the night’s snacks so they didn’t have to be bothered again by any servants. 

Being a bit too lazy to figure out what to tell them to bring, he just put on some background music-a mix of whatever he had on, of which he generally liked either classical, melodic synth or even more symphonic heavier music-and moved to look out the window for some moments at the now mostly-thawed snows. Now that it was March, there were only mostly some drifts here and there from this year’s harsh winter, but the vast majority was gone. He welcomed spring soon, to be frank. 

“How long is this thing going to take you?” she asked randomly. 

“Probably not too long. We’ll be meeting in the next two days. After that it’s just a matter of doing whatever transport we need and staying in touch after everything is set up. It seems fairly cut and dry, for once.” He snorted. “I hope that’s not a bad sign.”

“I’m sure you can deal with it if it is,” she said. She knew he didn’t like to, but she also knew that he had little trouble dealing with people like that. Usually, he would only have to deliver a very nasty killing blow to a higher-ranked person to get the rest to fall in line without having to harm the rank-and-file. In fact, he  _ preferred _ that, when it came down to having to deal out a harsh message; some of them were just sort of in it for the money and were easily scared off from doing anything else stupid. The higher ranks were usually guiltier, anyway. 

“Yeah, it has been awhile,” he thought. “Anyway, we’ve both looked. You even looked. There’s nothing there.”

_ So why am I so weird about this? _ He squashed the feeling down. His gut instinct was feeling good right now. It was his gut that would tell him whether or not something was right; and it was what he listened to with what ended up being good results. 

But there was something else just...weird about the situation right now that he couldn’t place. 

Whip looked at him curiously. “Is something bothering you about it?” she asked. She could tell when he was a bit off about something. 

“That’s the thing...there  _ isn’t _ ,” he said, walking over to the phone to consider calling down to get their cart brought up. 

She blinked. “You...almost  _ expect  _ there to be something.”

He nodded, smiling a bit absently. “Yeah. I think that’s it, exactly. It’s like my brain won’t register that everything is clean. Even my gut is telling me it’s clean.”

“It could be some leftover feelings from that incident we had,” she said, readjusting herself in the bed as he quickly called down an order to be left outside. 

When he was done, he walked back over. “That could be,” he said thoughtfully. “It’s like after that one went so bad, I expect the next meeting to.” 

“It pays to be careful, Adel. Just stay sharper than normal.”

“Yeah, no drinking at the meet tomorrow.” He climbed back into bed. 

Whip put the book aside after sticking the marker in, leaning over again to touch one of the nipple piercings again-a grin on her face-causing him to smirk. 

“You like teasing those, don’t you?” he asked.

“I mean…” she grinned. She leaned forward to lightly kiss one, causing him to shiver once. They met in a deeper kiss again, Adel's hand trailing down her back. 

He then began to kiss down her neck before coming back up as she repositioned some. He then bent low to kiss her stomach...several times. 

“Wait...already?” she giggled as he kissed down her side, causing her to shiver. 

“If you don’t mind,” Adel replied, letting his tongue-with its little, delightful steel ball-tease her skin. 

“Mmm...when did I ever?” Whip played with his hair as he made it to her inner thigh. 

After a few more moments-Adelheid having made his way over to tease her more in  _ earnest,  _ not having had enough of her earlier _ - _ they quickly decided that a sixty-nine would take care of this sudden, extra energy rather nicely. 

\---

Having dozed off after their impromptu second session of pleasure, Adelheid started awake at his buzzing phone. Checking it, he could see that Wilhelm had finally sent the appropriate emails to him. 

Rubbing his eyes, he turned over, seeing Whip sleeping peacefully next to him. Making sure she was secure, he went over to his computer to go see what he had to do. 

Checking his very private emails-the ones given out sparingly and half of them were burned after but a few weeks-he found Wilhelm’s information, the list of requests, and where he would be meeting Edward the next day. Some of the requests seemed a bit...extreme, but he trusted Wilhelm many times before and had never been wrong about him. 

Sending out brief messages to Edward, and then Wilhelm again, he then looked over the list of requests, sending yet more messages to some of his own men to at least start to prepare a few things; money transfers, some of the arms necessary...but to not send anything until he gave the okay. 

Getting a message back quickly enough, he saw that he and Wilhelm were to meet Edward at the Tiger’s Head; a rather fine Chinese restaurant downtown on the outskirts of the city. He knew and liked the place; he also knew it was a place with a nice, secure back room, so he was not surprised it was chosen. 

He admitted, the sound of their food sounded particularly good right now. He made a note to take Seirah there at some point, as he figured she might like it. 

Everything taken care of, his notes taken, anything important needing writing down written-placed in a few folders that he kept around his desk, which he never worried about anyone finding that wasn’t part of the family or his inner circle-he settled back, debating having a drink to get back to sleep. 

Turning, he saw Seirah sleeping there, still peaceful. She had worked somewhat out of the covers, and he smiled at how beautiful she looked. He was happy she was sleeping well; it meant her dreams were not the troubling kind. 

Deciding to not bother with the drink, he curled up next to her again, fixing the cover over the two of them as he drifted off; he admittedly felt much better now than he did earlier. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The sex was a bit abbreviated from what I am used to, heh. Not every sexy chapter is going to be E rated I do(that said, I probably expect one later on. For a heads up.) But, sometimes just using one’s imagination is nice and can add to a scene rather than detract. 
> 
> It’s nice to have a chapter that is the calm before the storm…
> 
> “What city are they in?” I imagine them probably near Köln at the moment if that is necessary, only, well, KOF world’s Köln, which may have a few more buildings here, a few less there, and some different landmarks. KOF is kinda weird in that it does use some real areas, they just play with their own landmarks. 


	3. Chapter 3

Gathering up everything he needed, Adelheid checked the time. 

_Almost two. I need to be there at four._

Getting dressed-opting for a high-necked sleeveless shirt, his collar, long jacket, heavy cargos and heavier boots, he pulled on his fingerless gloves and made sure he had everything with him. He would simply take the public transit in as to not have any of his own vehicles around. The Tiger’s Head was easy enough to get, being one of the more premiere expensive Chinese restaurants in the city-it was just out of the way enough to make it palatable for certain sorts of meetings.

“Look at you,” he heard Whip say as he got ready; he wore all black today, as well, which made his pale skin, light hair and red eyes stand out even more. She was lounging on his bed, doing a few things on her laptop. He smelled fresh from the shower; his hair was dry by now, and he didn’t wear any particular kinds of heavy cologne or anything, but he still had his familiar scent which she had grown quite used to. 

“I wish I could take you,” he smiled. “You’d like the food here, I think. I remember eating here once or twice.”

“Just take me next week or something,” she grinned. 

“I think I will,” he replied, walking over to her. “I guess this will take a few hours, depending. Let’s hope it doesn’t devolve into news that the Tiger’s Head got trashed in a fight.” 

Whip climbed out of the bed-half dressed herself in her trousers, socks and a tank top-and slid her hands over his shoulders to hold his neck as he met her in a deep kiss; teasing her slightly with the stud in the process. 

“I’ll be here for when you get back,” she said, playing with the front of his jacket before heading back to her work. Mostly she was able to do what she had to via her laptop-when she wasn’t on the field, she was an information specialist-and this enabled her to stay longer periods of time at the Sky Noah. 

“I know,” he said. “Did Rose come out at all today, by the way?”

“I didn’t see her,” Whip said. “I found Gwan, who tried to get more food from me, as usual,” she chuckled. “But she’s mostly been around her quarters when I’ve seen.” 

He nodded. “At least things haven’t gotten worse there.” Adel was somewhat relieved, though; recently, the two had helped her to her quarters after a dizzy spell, and she seemed a bit less distant overall. She was even quite friendly toward Whip, on the very odd times they would see, though she was still very quiet these days, mostly dealing with her own business. He hoped they could get to the bottom of whatever was happening soon, but they were at a loss when it came to that. 

“I’ll let you know if I do see her, though,” she said. He leaned over again to nip at her once before he turned around, causing her to laugh. “I’ll be back as soon as I can,” he said, smirking at her as he left. 

She looked around his room; she had grown quite comfortable and at home here now. The servants treated her as anyone else there, and there were times-despite having hung out here for months-that his room still impressed her. As large-if not larger-as the first floor in a roomy house, not counting the giant bathroom he had, it was light and airy thanks to the windows. At the same time, it was done up in his favored darker colors, and the curtains could be pulled to cut out the majority of the light if he so wanted, though he usually left them open during the day. Despite being the personal quarters of someone exceedingly wealthy, it looked far less lavish than Rose’s, and even had some clutter about. The Sky Noah itself had three floors of actual living space, and an upper and lower floor that was mostly more maintenance or other things. It was truly an engineering marvel. 

It also felt a lot more like home to her these days than the hotels she was used to living in when she was on duty, or the barracks. She-and the rest of the Ikaris-could come and go as they pleased, though the rest usually didn’t stay there like she did. They had rooms set aside for them, but they chose to go about their business elsewhere, though occasionally Heidern would spend the night if he and Adelheid were working closely with something. 

Whip, on the other hand, appreciated the luxury...and more than that, the feeling of belonging. 

Considering calling for some food sooner than later, she at least decided to get done what she was supposed to so she could have a free evening for when he finally returned. 

\---

Standing outside of the Tiger’s Head, Adelheid breathed in the late afternoon air. It was fairly chilly-maybe around five celsius or so-but he enjoyed the late afternoon sun and the ever so faint whiff of spring in the air, almost trying to break through what had been a fairly long winter. On any other day like this, he and Seirah may have been out around the city somewhere, but alas. 

His hands in his pockets, he waited for Wilhelm to arrive first, so they could enter together. He suspected the rest were inside already. 

Wilhelm came up in a black taxi; probably driven by one of his own. A cigarette in his mouth, he wore a fairly nondescript outfit of a gray jacket and slacks, and a shirt with a collar. He was generally a bit more formal than the young man, though Adelheid these days had started to eschew suits for his more personalized look at meetings or other professional outings. 

“Adel,” he nodded. “Sorry if I’m a bit late. Traffic.”

“You seem to be on time to me,” he replied, nodding. Wilhelm was a few inches shorter than Adel; perhaps about an inch taller than Seirah. 

Walking in together, they gave Edward’s name to the front, as instructed; the concierge whispered to one of the waiters, who bowed and took them to the private room in the back. It seemed that the employees of this establishment had already been paid the allotted money to look the other way, as they would often do. 

Adelheid couldn’t blame them, as it was likely a lucrative business to allow others to conduct _their_ business on your premises in a discreet manner. 

The water from an aquarium could be heard in the back; it was darker, and there were a couple of large tables, only one of which had anyone at it. Two other booths likewise remained empty. 

Around the table were five men; the one in the middle stood. Perhaps fifty, with salt and pepper hair combed back, he looked hard, though more of a businessman than a fighter. Noticing the harness underneath his coat, Adelheid suspected he preferred firearms when necessary. Nodding, he took a small bow. 

“Edward,” he said pleasantly. He was fairly soft-spoken. 

“Adelheid.”

“Wilhelm,” replied the older man, bowing, and going forward to take a seat. Edward watched the two of them. He looked stoic, and unthreatened....but there was a message, here...and it was from Adelheid.

Edward was armed, with his two main bodyguards-fairly built men with slicked back, black hair, perhaps thirty, flanking him-and his two other men were likewise armed, where Adelheid showed up unarmed, and with only one non combatant man with him. 

It showed that Adelheid had no fear in this situation, and that Edward ought to think twice if he were to try anything. He had learned, soon after his father’s death, that he had to send messages like this to those he had to deal with. 

But Edward did not try anything. He smiled-fairly easily-and took his seat. The others didn’t introduce themselves, but that was common in these situations. Henrik had been present at many meetings, and he had usually simply gone about his business. 

“I ordered for everyone,” Edward said. “I hope you don’t mind.”

Adel shook his head. “I know how these places go.” Sure enough, people came out to pour tea for the seven men, also leaving behind some dishes of finely pickled vegetables to begin with. Taking a sip-it was very fine indeed, he decided to start things. “So you need me for your endeavor,” he said. 

Edward sipped his tea, nodding in approval. “Yes. I was told by Wilhelm about your expertise in this area, and that you would essentially be able to put up what I needed. You will, of course, be duly compensated.”

Adelheid spared Wilhelm a bit of a _look_ ; Wilhelm coughed and adjusted his jacket as he sipped some tea. He could tell the look said something along the lines of putting his name a bit earlier than he had let on. 

Turning back-the other men starting to eat and drink some-he smirked. “Yes, I have some experience in the area you could say. I thought dog racing had gone out of style somewhat, but I suppose I shouldn’t have been surprised it picked up again.” He paused to take in a fair few of the pickled vegetables himself; they were quite tasty. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw the waiters bringing soup out for them to eat at their leisure, also refilling the teacups. 

“Certain high-profile groups have started to see some more in the sport,” Edward replied. “A bit easier to handle than horse racing, and a bit more low profile,” he smirked, assuming he knew what that last part meant. 

Wilhelm nodded. “Apparently some big, international CEOs-who choose to remain anonymous, of course-are even looking into it.” 

“Why not get them to fund it?” Adelheid asked plainly, trying some of the soup. It was likewise quite fine. This place did live up to its reputation. 

Edward chuckled, as his own men tucked into some of their appetizers. “Some of them were not as interested in working with someone like me,” he said. “I’m a bit too... _underground_ , as it is,” he replied. 

Finishing off his tea, Wilhelm smirked. “Basically, they are too good to deal with types like us,” he said. 

“I could see that,” Adelheid added as he finished off everything rather quickly; the waiters coming to refill tea, adding some fine, crunchy noodles as well as some dumpling and roll platters around each table; they followed by filling some small, shallow dishes with sauce and adding some rice. They smelled _very_ nice. 

“So...I’ll get down to the point,” Edward started, taking some of the food onto his plate. “The racing dogs in question are quite costly; I will, of course, be putting up most of that. What I need from you is the rest, as well as the... _defenses_ ,” he said, the last word clearly meaning “Armaments.”

Eating several dumplings and rolls quickly-the spicy mustard was quite good-Adel smirked. “By that, I suppose you mean things my family was known for.” 

“Exactly.” 

“What sorts of things do you need?”

“Heavier firearms,” he said plainly. “There are some others in the underworld who know of this, who would love nothing more than to cause trouble. Unfortunately, I had gotten in with a bad set not long ago. I...am sure you can relate,” he said, eating some more while other dishes were brought out; small meat and vegetable dishes were placed around the table, as rice was also refilled. 

“Yes, I suppose I can,” Adelheid said. “So basically the operation may be in danger and you want to make sure it-and your people-are protected. That’s fair enough.”

“Indeed. There are a few in particular that tend to be rather bloodthirsty, who know how much money is in this for. Again, you will be very well compensated for this.” 

“How much?” 

“Half,” he started. 

Adelheid raised an eyebrow. “It seems to me that without my contribution, you are in a bit too much danger here.”

Edward smiled at this; the look on his face said he almost didn’t expect the young man to be so sharp. 

Wilhelm stepped in. “I do think the young man here has the actual bargaining chips.” 

Adelheid started to take some of the new dishes that were served; the beef was incredibly tender and the deep fried wings perfectly crisp. He remained silent, mostly making his way through the food, eyeing the sticky rice as they brought it out. He deftly picked some of the stuff up with his chopsticks. 

He decided to let Wilhelm earn some of his keep for a few minutes. Wilhelm looked at him for a moment, about to let him continue, when he coughed, turning back to Edward. 

The more stoic man smiled. His other partners had barely even paid them attention, mostly just occasionally scanning the room for something wrong. 

“He has a point,” he said. “I can go up to sixty, then.” 

Adelheid smiled after swallowing some of more of the rather tasty dishes. It wasn’t that he needed the money, so to speak, but he had to play the game. “That would still leave us with thirty each. If it’s as lucrative as you say…” Wilhelm noticed that Adelheid himself had not said any percentage himself yet; seemingly letting the other man throw out numbers until he was satisfied. 

Edward stroked his clean-shaven chin. “Sixty-five is as high as I can go. You understand that leaves me with a mere thirty-five, of which I am putting up a lot of,” he said.

Adelheid smirked at him, allowing his plates to be cleared as they started to bring in some of the varied seafood dishes, refilling up some of the tea and rice. “This is true. I suppose I do have the easier role in this,” he said. “That would leave a fair bit to be split between myself and my partner, here, I suppose.” 

“And there will be later compensation, too, depending on how lucrative this is.”

Beginning to eat-the spicy, deep fried squid complimenting the slightly sweet sauce he put on his rice rather nicely-he let Wilhelm chat a bit more, giving him a look stating _earn your thirty-two percent._

“We understand,” he said, quickly swallowing and being unsurprised the young man was going to put him on the spot, as he would when he would come up with one of his ideas. He looked at Adel, who simply nodded an okay. “I think this will suffice,” he said. “We have what you need and when; I am sure Adelheid can get it ready sooner than later?”

Adel swallowed, almost wishing he could enjoy some wine, but still deciding to not drink anything just in case, as it was going rather smoothly...at the moment. “I already started getting the stuff ready. I could have called it off if we hadn’t worked something out, but given we did, I can have everything you need within a few hours. At a spot of your choosing.” He watched as they started to bring out various dessert dishes, including sesame balls, mango pudding, and egg tarts, all of which looked delicious. 

“Very well, then. There are the docks in the southeast; I am sure you know where they are. After midnight, we’ll take care of everything there, then.”

“I don’t think I will have any rude surprises waiting?” Adel said, a dry smirk on his face. 

“I would hope not.” He smiled back. Adel felt quite good at the moment, and nothing had devolved into combat at the dinner table. There had been one incident a few months back at a restaurant that involved the employees having to bring out a mop and a bucket after Adel had defended himself. 

Starting to select some desserts after finishing the many courses that had come all night, they started to tuck those away more in silence. Edward had already covered the payment for the night here, so there was nothing to be done but finish; eventually, the after dinner coffee came out, which they did offer here. Grateful for the pick me up, Adelheid downed his cup rather quickly as Edward and Wilhelm lit cigarettes. Adelheid did not smoke, though was not particularly bothered by it, having grown fairly used to it in his line of work. 

Sitting back, he looked at Edward, nodding. “So it’s a deal. We’ll settle it tonight on the docks. I wish you luck,” he added. 

“The same, young Bernstein,” he replied. 

\--

The actual deal went off without a hitch. 

It was even fairly standard, in the end. Adelheid and Wilhelm had gone to the docks to ensure their end came in safely with no delays. In hindsight, the ordinance they needed wasn’t even _that_ bad, he felt; once he knew the amount of money involved, he reckoned they needed to cover more than one end. He had made deals that involved more, in fact, in the past. 

Crates were shipped, offshore accounts were filled, and the second part-with the actual dogs themselves-would come later, and that part was mostly out of Adelheid’s hands, anyway, as he was letting Wilhelm take care of that part. Truth be told, he hadn’t done much with that in a couple of years, so he trusted the other man to take care of that part much better. 

Adelheid, at this point, was waiting to hear from Wilhelm about how the other parts went off. A day passed...then two. He started to be curious; he hoped he was alright, but he also knew that sometimes things could be slow, especially when it came to transport. 

By the time the third day had rolled around, he woke up, checking his phone-and his emails; standard messages, as he knew a lot of people, and, of course, some spam. 

It was Whip walking in, after having been on the phone with Heidern, who broke the initial news that would lead to a chain of rather grim events. 

“Did you hear?” she said, checking the news sites on her laptop. 

“No?” he asked. “Just got up. No coffee yet. What happened?” he asked, looking a little concerned at her slight alarm. He rubbed his eyes, snapping more awake. 

“Explosion at a warehouse. Fairly large one, as well. They’re saying casualties. Near one of the docks,” she said. 

Adelheid’s stomach sank at these words...and he wasn’t sure why yet. Or maybe, he was. “Did Heidern say who did it?”

“We don’t know yet. This isn’t our jurisdiction, and right now they haven’t called for any sort of international investigations yet; our hands are sort of tied until then, though of course we’re doing some looking around.” 

Adel walked over to sit next to her on the bed to read the article. 

“Explosion at the East End docks,” he said. He read further. “It seems that the explosion was small,” he stated. “Only a few casualties from it. Most were caused by...gunfire?” he said, reading on quickly. “No one was apprehended apparently-but they are still uncovering the bodies of... _hostages_?!” he said, disturbed. He looked up at her, shaking his head. “What the hell happened?!”

“From all we know so far...there was a skirmish there. We don’t know between who, or what about. At first glance, two syndicates seemed to be going at it. One had hostages, and the other didn’t care,” she said grimly. “Or neither did. But it's still all hearsay...we don't know for sure.”

His stomach twisted. “ _If_ they were syndicates...I...may be able to find out.”

She nodded. “Again, we can’t do very much until we get the okay...but find out what you can.”

He nodded. Immediately going back to his email, he started with Wilhelm. As he was typing frantically, Whip could sense his tenseness. She walked over to him to slide her arms around his neck and kiss his shoulder. 

"Something's wrong," she said.

"We had to supply defenses to someone as you know. There weren't any racing dogs found, though, in the news."

She shook her head. "Nothing of a sort was mentioned in anything we read."

He sighed. "I still can't shake this feeling. Going to meet Wilhelm at the docks today, or try to. Haven't gotten a hold of him yet."

"If anything is wrong, let me know. You know I'll be there."

Turning his head toward hers, he smiled softly, kissing her several times. "I know. Thank you." He turned back to send out what he had to. “I hope this isn’t from what I think it is.”

\---

It was later in the afternoon that Wilhelm finally called him. 

_“Wilhelm,”_ Adelheid said, rather sternly. “Where _were_ you? I thought you were caught up in this and killed or something.” _Or something worse._

“No, I’m fine. I went underground fairly quickly after it happened to try to hunt up information. Adelheid...you’re not going to like this.”

His stomach sank as he sat. Whip saw his expression. He always talked around her; he trusted her with anything, and she was likely going to need to know this anyway. She walked forward to rub his muscular shoulders as he was on the phone. 

“I don’t know everything,” he said. “Just some. But...Edward and them...they were dirty.”

 _“Damnit!”_ Adelheid growled into the phone, causing Whip to almost jump, though she kept rubbing his tensed shoulders and neck. _I should have fucking known._ “How dirty, Wilhelm?” 

Wilhelm coughed on the other line. “Bad, Adelheid. From what I can tell, very bad. We’re talking...hostages died at that warehouse. They were kidnapped by Edward’s rivals and held there. Edward came to go deal with them...with the weapons.”

“Why the _hells_ would Edward’s rivals have human hostages?”

The other line was silent. “Adelheid...”

This caused Adel’s stomach to sink even further at the revelation. 

“How many?”

“I don’t know exa-”

 _“How. Many.”_ His voice took on a far more menacing tone. 

“Twenty. At least. From what I’ve heard. I-”

“I’ll get back to you, Wilhelm. I have some searching to do,” he said angrily, blinking in disbelief at those words. 

“O...okay Adel. Meet later. I’ll try to find out w-”

At that, Adelheid hung up, throwing his phone onto the bed and burying his face in his hands. Whip blinked, cocking her head to the side. She walked around to his front. 

“Adelheid...what happened?”

He looked up at her, a sorrowful look on his face. 

“Edward was dirty. And much, much dirtier than we thought. And we all missed it. All of us. He wasn’t even in _your_ database, for fuck’s sake. How were any of us supposed to find anything?!”

Smoothing his hair back, she smiled sadly at him; she really didn't know, since as much as she looked, she really did find nothing, either. "What are you going to do?” she asked. 

“I don’t know…” he answered, resting his head on her chest, breathing in her comforting scent...which was exactly what he needed right now. 

_Wilhelm...did he know?_ Adel thought to himself. _He couldn’t have. He couldn’t have been in on this._

At this thought, a _feeling_ started to almost scratch at his brain, almost like dark tendrils seeping from the ground. 

_Did he...betray...me?_

_No, he wouldn’t do that._

As Whip stroked his hair-hugging his head as he sat there, he tried to think about what to do. 

But those evil tendrils would not leave his brain. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well. This was a bit of a mess now, wasn’t it? It seems that there was something afoot...but it was buried so damn deep, even the Ikaris didn’t have info on them. So...who tipped them off...if anyone? 
> 
> As for an aside, Rose, as we know, is being manipulated by Those from the Past, who basically hide out in very hard to find places...like even portals from somewhere else, given how they just pop in and out in XI. It comes up now and again(given they’re all trying to figure out what’s going on, and just can’t-and don’t end up finding out until later on in XIII in the actual canon.) 
> 
> “Are there docks in Köln?” It’s right on the Rhine, so yes, I imagine there could be. The Rhine is 400m(1300 feet) wide, and is a pretty massive river. In this, I made it so. It's the KOF world so there may be different landmarks. 
> 
> I always imagined Adelheid being quite adept in dealing with business; mostly out of necessity. I imagined him and his sister both being good at having to deal with types like that at meetings and everything.


	4. Chapter 4

Another three days had passed after the terrible incident, where Adelheid, after some digging, managed to find out more. 

And he wished he hadn’t. To be frank, he just wanted to go and join Heidern’s team at this point, leaving _everything_ behind-it was too hard to keep track of everyone in the underworld. Having to find out quickly who was dirty, who was gray...and who was _truly_ evil...like his father had been. 

It didn’t matter that he would put a fair amount of money toward various charities-anonymous, of course-if he ended up falling in with evil like this, as he’d end up harming some of the very people he would try to help. 

He knew that with the Ikaris, he could live a life of simply going to deal with villains around the world, putting his finest skills to good use, _and_ be with Seirah for a lot of the time. They fought incredibly well side by side, too-like a connected unit. He knew if he would have to take lives working for them, it would be for a good reason; he wouldn’t have to worry about fucked-up betrayals, falling in with terrorists and gods know what else. He had little trouble removing deserving enemies from the world; while that may have been dark in and of itself, Adelheid had never considered himself a true hero. He knew his hands were bloody-he simply tried to do the best he could with it. 

But, he had a family he loved. He couldn’t leave his little sister. _Especially_ not when she needed him. He didn’t _care_ about the money or the prestige; but he _did_ care about his only family. Whip knew this, and understood-she never pressured him, instead going in to try to help him uncover what was going on. 

He just _wished_ his life wasn’t such a mess sometimes. 

After the initial shock of Wilhelm’s call had worn off, he had started snooping around; as did Whip. They unfortunately didn’t have many leads yet. Wilhelm had sent him a couple of short, scattered emails from what he was able to gather, but it apparently wasn’t much. Edward’s dirt had, indeed, been planted very deep...but those dark thoughts that had formed in Adelheid’s mind refused to leave. He could barely sleep right now because of them, Whip having spent the last night stroking his hair since he’d continuously wake up; sometimes emotional, other times full of rage. 

All they could get was that they kept finding bodies; the death toll climbed past thirty. Some seemed to be members of some criminal organization that had dealt with nasty things-drugs, murder, even trafficking. 

After putting together what they could, it seemed that Edward, in reality, was into some of this nasty stuff too; he used ‘lighter’ things to put up a front. Several lighter things. And they still didn’t know how he managed to hide it all, but he was _good_. 

_Wilhelm had to know this_ , Adelheid thought to himself. _He...had...to._

But that was where it ended. They didn’t even know if Edward was his real name; they doubted it at this point. They didn’t know who he really worked for, or who his real men were, or anything else. Everything came up blank. 

Wilhelm’s emails became more confused, seemingly out of fear. 

_He should be afraid_ , Adel thought before shaking his head, chasing those strange thoughts out of it again. 

Whip saw the look on his face, and could feel the stress coming off of him. While she had been on short sleep rations lately as well, she was doing better, since her side could only do so much right now until the German authorities gave more international groups the okay. 

“Adel…” she said, coming over to him as he spun around in his chair to face her. He leaned on her chest again, as he tended to do a lot these past days, letting her wrap her arms around his head as his own went around her waist. 

“Seirah...I messed this up. So bad.”

“You had no way of knowing.”

“I shouldn’t have taken it. It was too easy.” 

_But, you did...you can make it right though_ , the voice in his head said. 

She kissed the top of his head; she wasn’t sure what else she could say. “We’ll find them. And take them out.”

“Oh, we will,” he said, his voice with a hint of menace; she held him closer when she heard the edge to it. “But...I need to find out some things…” he said, looking up at her as she leaned in to kiss him several times, comforting him. He had dark rings under his eyes, and even his appetite hadn’t been what it usually was. He had at least enjoyed indulging in some intimate moments with her; those, and when he was curled up with her, were some of the bits of solace he could find. 

“Do what you have to, love. I’ll help with anything you need.” Kissing him on the head one more time, she went back over to see what was going on over on her end on the bed, as he continued to sort through any little bits of information he could find.

His new email button lit up; seeing it was from Wilhelm, he clicked it and started to read. His eyes narrowed as he skimmed the words; they seemed to almost jump off of the screen.

_Sorry I missed the meeting,_ it said. _I thought I had some information...but then I ended up having to duck and hide. We can meet tonight, though._

Adel scowled. _He’s hiding something_ , that little part of his brain said. 

But his gut was telling him that Wilhelm was telling the truth. He had found Wilhelm to be someone he could work with very early on when he had taken over the family business; that was about five years ago at this point. He had been a part of deals with him that mostly worked out, a couple going bad-that Adelheid had to fight out of for both of their sakes, but he was always pleasant and unlike Johan, he had never even dropped hints to where he stood. 

Johan, in hindsight, had warning signs about him, but given his newfound position he simply didn’t notice. Wilhelm had never had that. At worst, he was a light gray white-collar criminal who sometimes bit off a bit more than he could chew. While he could be a little silly with his grandiose plans, he was even someone he could have a drink with from time to time after a deal. 

_Look what listening to your gut got you_ , the little voice said almost in answer. 

He grit his teeth, shutting his eyes. He really didn’t like how he was feeling. He didn’t know what it was; lack of sleep, the stress of the situation, or the sheer guilt. Or a mix of everything. 

After thinking for a few moments, he decided to start writing; for a few moments, he almost felt out of control of his hands, just letting the words pour forth. Just some words about research and how it was a mess and he should have kept in contact...but they could meet tonight, at one of the warehouses that he knew of. 

Staring at the send button for a few moments, he looked over to the bottle of wine on his computer desk, pouring himself a glass, he drank it off quickly. 

He pressed the button, causing the strange feeling in his brain-the one that could only be described as tendrils grasping at him-to sink in further. 

_What’s happening to me?_ Adelheid thought to himself as he turned toward the bed to curl up next to his lover for a while; the one person who could bring him comfort when he was distressed in any way. 

He thought he would need all he could get for the meet tonight. 

\---

Sitting in the dark warehouse, Adelheid poured himself a drink from the flask he had in his pocket. While Adelheid did not often bring alcohol out and about, on his meetings he would often have a silvered flask with him, where he would put some of his finer alcohol to share. 

Right now, he wanted some to try to calm himself. Which was a rarity for him to do with booze. 

He could _feel_ those tendrils of hate continue to grasp at his brain...the ones attached to that killing spirit of his. The one he knew was there...but he tried to ignore. He had thought, after Johan, that he had gotten a semblance of control over it; indeed, he had let some of it out there, and was none worse for the wear afterward...though what was left of Johan was something that was not soon forgotten by anyone who had seen it.

But after that, he had basically waved it off as a victory. While it _was_ a victory over that side of himself, it was simply one battle won; by no means was it the entire war. There were a few times where he felt it start to taunt him-those odd times where he would be dealing with some of his nastier rivals, but he pushed it away. Killing in self defense was something he had to do sometimes, but he ignored the satisfied feeling he would sometimes get delivering the final blow to someone who had come at him with the intent to kill. _They started it,_ he would tell himself. _They tried to take my life._

What just happened was unforgivable, though. While it wasn’t as deep of a _personal_ betrayal as Johan, it was a betrayal nonetheless...and one that had caused a lot of death. He had trusted Wilhelm...and now... _now_...

Adel checked his phone, seeing the news reports. Seeing the death toll. It was up to about forty. 

Possibly to go higher. 

Caused by a group that _he_ funded. 

_It was supposed to be an underground gambling ring_ , he thought to himself angrily. He played the scenario over and over in his head. Almost like rewinding everything the past several days. 

Wilhelm had said he had checked. Adelheid himself, usually prudent, followed up; but hearing Wilhelm-who was often very thorough with his legwork-say that they were alright, he gave it more of a cursory glance in a few other directions and was satisfied. Even Whip had run the name, with nothing coming up; and the Ikari’s database was extensive. 

Which meant...it _had_ to be Wilhelm.

He _did_ somewhat blame himself for not listening to that feeling that wouldn’t go away-but he blamed the man who betrayed him more. His gut was telling him everything was fine, after all.

Or was it?

_Another betrayal. I will not be trusting people as easily after this...not that I had before. I may have to do another...purging,_ his mind said. He shook his head at this thought, not liking the _excited_ feeling it gave him. 

_Are you sure, though? Was it a betrayal? Or was he truly innocent?_

Sitting silently at the table, he stared at the door, one long leg crossed over the other. He wore his usual attire; his long jacket was welcome, as the warehouse was cooler. He had made sure beforehand it was completely empty.

_Just_ in case. Judging by everything, it was fairly long closed down...likely only used for shadier endeavors these days. It had been locked up tight; though he solved that with a single, almost lazy axe kick. His leg could crush granite; a simple lock-even an industrial lock-was nothing. 

After some moments, the door opened slowly with Wilhelm appearing through it, hanging his coat on the side. Looking around, he was somewhat confused at the dim light. He walked over to Adelheid, sitting alone at the table. 

“Adel?” he asked. “I came as soon as I could. This...this is a fucking _disaster,_ ” he said, shaking his head. “I thought I had covered everything looking into them. Gods, I thought I had everything covered.” He, too, looked like he hadn’t slept well. 

“But, you didn’t,” Adelheid replied, looking coldly at the man. 

He blinked, shaking his head as he moved forward to sit at the table, taking out a flask. He took a long pull before sighing. It was clear he hadn’t shaved in a few days, or even brushed his hair, for that matter. 

“I did miss things, I suppose. It... _had_ to have been buried deep. I looked into their credentials. Looked into some of their past. Made sure I found out the names of people who had worked with them, and asked around them, as well. Like we always do,” he said, not looking at Adel at the moment, and thus not seeing the young man’s darkening gaze on him. “When I felt they were alright-that they wanted the resources and arms to take care of the security needed in the matter, due to the fact they were being targeted by another group-I let you know. You told me you looked, as well. We even talked about that at the Tiger the other day.” He sighed, rubbing his neck. “I’ve barely slept winks since it happened, since when I poked around, they started coming after me. I had to go into hiding. Thank the gods for caffeine pills to keep me awake.” 

“I did look,” he said, his voice quiet. He felt the tendrils scratch at his brain again. _Forty dead. Some of them had been kidnapped. Most of them were innocent._ “I didn’t know we’d be funding kidnapping, trafficking _terrorists_ , Wilhelm,” he spat.

Wilhelm started. He had never heard Adelheid sound like this in his life. Even the few times he had to witness the young man gruesomely dispatch someone pulling weapons on them over the years, he had never acted like _this_. 

“I... _neither did I_ , Adel! The real dirt was buried, I’m telling you. I _still_ don’t know the extent of it or who they are even in with except for some nasty rivals. That kidnapping had happened, happened before we were even involved with this mess. Whoever it was Edward had it in for, and why-or who had it in for _him_ -I still don’t know...the word on the street says it was an old rival who had split off from him when Edward had started to dabble in...darker things. And it cost Edward millions. Which was likely the cause.” He took another drink. 

“You know...an _awful_ lot about this, Wilhelm,” he said, still glaring. He felt those dark, bloodthirsty tendrils creep up on him again, starting to take hold of his brain. These weren’t the small ones from before, though.

These were the ones that would sneak up when he would hear the piano. He shook them off. His gut started telling him Wilhelm was indeed telling the truth. 

His gut was correct, here...but his darkening mind pushed those thoughts away. _You thought your gut was correct about this situation, too, and look._

Wilhelm at this point was starting to be _very_ worried; he tried to compose himself. “Like I said...it’s just what I managed to dig up. We’ve all been looking for leads. His old partner was into some of the gambling rings that we were looking into, as well. I’d...guess that he did what he did with us to lure them to where he needed them to be...and used the arms supplied to strike. We were just a means to an end.” 

“Wilhelm…” Adel started, his voice a deadly, ominous calm. “When you checked to see what arms they were requesting, did you bother to look closely at them?”

“T...there was nothing out of the ordinary.”

“And did you look to see where the arms were even going?” he asked. “I told you to do that one, simple thing.”

Wilhelm gulped. “I...I assumed they would run into heavy trouble, and that I just needed to drop them off.” Wilhelm was starting to be somewhat afraid, now. He had never, _ever_ seen Adelheid acting like this. 

“You knew,” Adel said plainly. 

“W...what?” The older man shook his head, getting up from his further seat and going to sit closer, taking a longer pull on his flask. “Adel, you _have_ to be joking. I was as shocked at this as you! I haven’t slept for days, I’m living on caffeine pills, stimulants and coffee, and I had to hide out in a hostel for two nights because I was getting chased...that’s why I couldn’t call you. Couldn’t risk the trace. I _swear_ it.”

“You... _knew_ ,” Adelheid said, glaring daggers through the other man, whom he had thought to trust. Whom he had trusted for quite a long time now. He felt his heart start to beat faster. His pleads sounded more and more like excuses.

“ _No_ , Adel. I didn’t.” The older man shook his head. He began to look downright nervous. “I swear. I dug around. They seemed okay. Not...not _this_ ,” he said. “You _know_ I would _never_ agree to something like this.” He looked rather disgusted at the thought, in fact. 

Adel’s eyes grew hot, causing Wilhelm to flinch backward. The look on his face began to almost change in front of him. He went from angry to... _murderous_. Shaking his head, the young man grit his teeth. 

_No_ , he whispered to himself. _Not now._

_Look what he made you do,_ the evil voice said. _You know he was in on it_.

“Wilhelm...you should have known. Dealing with an unknown syndicate. Dig. _Deeper_ ,” he said, his voice low and threatening. 

The little voice came up again. _Oh, he knew._ Adel shook his head again, feeling the blood begin to rush into his ears. 

He hadn’t felt like this since that... _horrible_ day, the last time his sister drove him mad with her music, bringing out that killing spirit. 

Not the one that killed in self defense. 

The one that killed for _pleasure._ The one he tried to hide...to bury, to forget existed. 

“You... _used_...me.”

“I didn’t. Adelheid...you checked up as well, you said. I mean, shouldn’t you have found something, if you did?” he asked. 

Adel’s glare itself right now could have killed. “Are...you _accusing_ me?” he said, his voice dripping with malice. 

This time, there was no music. He had no idea why it was happening _now_. Wilhelm’s voice seemed to be an echo; he only faintly heard his next words.

“A...Adelheid. You...your eyes. L-look. I’m going to go. Trust me. _Please_. It wasn’t me. I didn’t know. I’ll look into what happened, I swear,” he said, his voice growing slightly panicky. “I didn’t use you. I _know_ you. I know you would _never_ deal with horrible bastards like him! I wouldn’t either. You _know_ this!”

Which only seemed to drive that terrible spirit that lurked inside Adel angrier, causing those horrid, murderous tendrils to drive into him the rest of the way. 

“You _KNEW_ ,” he snarled, backhanding the man across the face, his nose breaking from the blow instantly, a stream of blood flying out as he flew from the chair. The blood hit Adelheid’s face, the scent of it causing his pupils to narrow. The man stumbled to the floor, looking up at him in pain...and fear. 

_No,_ Adel whispered to himself. _I...I won’t...I can’t…please..._

He found himself walking over to Wilhelm, the scent of blood driving him mad now. He wound back and kicked him hard in the face; he flew back again, coughing copious amounts of blood onto the floor. He restrained himself...he could have ended it in a single blow, he knew.

_Why can’t I stop this?_ Adelheid thought desperately to himself, as the last vestiges of his usual, decent, good-natured, and even sweet personality left him, and the horrid, bestial side that lurked within him-the one that he tried to _never_ look at-taking him over again. 

This time, it took no other coaxing but Adelheid’s rage at the situation. 

He walked toward his terrified ex-partner, laying into him as he tried to crawl away. 

_“You...KNEW!”_ he screamed as he kicked the man repeatedly; his enraged voice terrible to behold. “All. _Those. PEOPLE!_ ” His words we punctuated with kicks that grew in power; the solid _thwacks_ turning quickly into sickening, grotesque _crunching_ noises. 

No one could hear the blood-curdling screams, the pleading...or the horrid sounds, coming from within. 

The worst, however, was the dark laughter mixed with snarls of rage. 

\--

_Warehouse, southeast. Please._

The words jumped off of Whip’s phone, causing her stomach to twist. They were written so short, and to the point. No usual greeting. 

_Are you okay?!_ she quickly wrote back. 

_Not hurt,_ the words said. _Please, come._

Immediately closing what she was working on at the hotel, she got dressed and threw on her coat, making her way to the underground metro; making sure her armaments were on her, though concealed. She had proper licensing and such, but it still didn’t hurt. She was working on things from her room; some of the others were about investigating things at the moment. She had volunteered to stay back in case someone tried to get in touch. 

Her stomach was roiling. _Gods_ , _I hope everything’s alright_ , she thought. Knowing that he wouldn’t lie to her about being hurt, she started to dread what she could find there. 

Her team had still been trying to figure out what was what; none of them knew about the funding or anything like that, as it had happened so under the radar, and had been shifted around so much, the trail was far too muddy. 

In the end, they had still not been granted permission to begin their full investigation, she understood likely why, as the local authorities had probably wanted to at least try to keep this under wraps at first. If they found a lead that would give international authorities more cause, she imagined they would be called in.

She _still_ had a horrible feeling about things, though. 

Hurrying to the warehouse-the directions had been sent to her via her phone-it was in an out-of-the way area. A few derelicts were around, but no one she couldn’t deal with easily if they had tried something. 

Her gut twisted even further; she just _knew_ something was horribly wrong. Adelheid did not message her like this normally. She knew he was distressed...no, more than that, most likely. 

When she had finally made her way through to the back area of it-around some boxes and crates, she could see-in the dim light-the enormous amounts of blood everywhere, trailing from the table to the middle to the back wall, where _some_ sort of remains lay.

Exhaling deeply, she saw Adelheid sitting by the wall at the side-on a crate himself, his legs tucked up and his arms wrapped around them. The blood trailed from the remains-which looked like they had been mangled by heavy machinery rather than a man-over to the crate where he sat, his head turning toward her. 

“Adel…” she said, running over to him, ignoring the stench of the blood and the horror of the remains; there was far more than blood spread around. Blood spattered his face and hair, covered his gloves, and formed a rather nasty, thick sheen on his heavy boots. Looking between them, she had no idea who the remains had been-there was no way of telling as there was hardly an upper body left, let alone a head-but she recognized their state.

Adel had been _at_ this man, and it was something she had seen start to come out on Johan...only not to _this_ extent. 

It was something she had _also_ seen come out on the men that one horrible night. 

_He lost control fully,_ she thought to herself. She looked at him, his eyes full of sorrow as he tilted his head up at her. Sorrow, and some fear; fear, she knew, of what was inside of himself. 

“Seirah…” he said softly, feeling her slide her arms around his head, brushing some of his spattered hair back as he started to unfold from his curled-up position. Stroking his hair as he turned to face her, she held him, letting him wrap his arms around her. The blood or mess didn’t matter to her. 

“Shh,” she said, holding him, kissing his forehead, getting a smear of blood on her face in the process. “I’m here now. I have you.” She could feel him shaking. She felt no fear for her own safety; what she was afraid was losing him to whatever this was. 

“Be careful,” he whispered, looking up at her, his eyes lifeless. “Please.” His voice cracked. 

Whip felt a painful stab at his words as she smiled sadly at him.

“I love you,” she said. She pressed her forehead to his and kissed him deeply; he returned it, almost desperately.

They held each other for a long time in silence. Despite the horror in the place, she didn’t move. She kept stroking his hair until she felt him at least start to settle. 

“Seirah...don’t let it take me,” he said, looking up at her desperately. “Don’t let me hurt you again. Please don't let it take me. I love you."

“Never,” she said, her heart twisting again at his voice. “I’m here. I’m here.” 

_I will always be here_ , she thought.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yeah, this was bad. Adelheid had snapped before on people he didn’t want to...but the music drove him to it. Now that it came out on its own, due to anger...it’s seemingly gotten worse. I guess maybe burying it-or assuming it was all said and done after the Johan incident some weeks back-wasn’t the best idea. 
> 
> Wilhelm wasn’t evil-more of a petty criminal, mostly ‘clean crimes’ if you will, ripping off other syndicates and other rich bastards, though keeping the money mostly for himself, of course. Did he really deserve this, though? Was he behind it, or was he really innocent? 
> 
> We’ll see what the next chapter holds. At least he has someone holding him right now.


	5. Chapter 5

The stormy weather-not uncommon for spring-had been a fairly good analogue for the general mood of everyone the past few days. 

Whip had taken Adelheid back to the Sky Noah that awful night, where he immediately retired to the bathroom and into a very, very long and hot shower. His blood-soaked clothing had been tossed into the corner, to be cleaned; she knew, unfortunately, Henrik was no stranger to this, thanks to all of the times he had to fight for his life...or the times he would be driven to savagery by the music. 

Making a few calls while he was in the shower, she made sure the warehouse was taken care of...as absolutely horrific of a job as _that_ was going to be. 

By the time he had gotten out, he still looked utterly lifeless. Collapsing on her in an embrace, she even suggested he take one of the stronger things in her more specialized first aid kit to help him sleep, which he did, gratefully. 

The days that followed had seen Adel fairly distant. He ate when he was hungry...but his massive appetite had been curbed, and he mostly stuck to coffee and lighter fare, which was incredibly unlike him. He was not too intimate with her, either; he was clearly afraid of himself, and while they curled up together, kissing often, he seemed hesitant to touch her in other ways. Every time he did, he imagined himself snapping, and he ended up frightened again. 

She simply soothed him when he needed. It hurt her heart to see him like this, but she knew all she could do was be there for him right now. 

Having woken up before her this morning-it was barely even six-she found him staring out the window. She slid out of bed herself, walking over behind him to slide her arms around his waist; his large hand went over hers as she kissed his shoulder before leaning her head against it. She remembered standing like this with him when he was trying to find himself in the past. 

He turned toward her, cracking a smile. “Good morning,” he said softly. 

“Hey,” she replied, leaning against his chest as he turned. She was happy to see him sticking around. 

The past mornings before this he had gone out on his own, though it was to train...and the destruction wrought in his wake was quite ferocious. She watched him from the window from time to time; he was capable of kicking energy with his legs that would leave a trench in the ground, but when he let loose completely unfettered, he could crush a huge rock with a single leaping dive kick. Trees were kicked in two.

When she had first met him, she knew he was strong, but she didn’t realize just how much he held that strength back in the tournament so he didn’t horribly injure people. He explained to her, though, he did have deficiencies in his gameplan; he admitted he’d sometimes let his defense go. This likely is what allowed Ralf to sneak in one of his match-winning punches before he collapsed when her partners managed to eke out their victory. 

And Adel _still_ stood first afterward.

Her wandering mind came back to her. “Feeling any better?”

“A little,” he replied. 

What really got him with all of this mess was the fact he had not only snapped without the music-he snapped to the point where he took out an actual innocent. He was unarmed, he was a long time acquaintance, and Adel knew now-in his heart-he was innocent. And he did more than just take him out-he _mutilated_ him beyond all recognition. 

So he was confused, and even frightened, about what had happened. 

Adel looked down, smoothing back some of Whip’s hair and cupping the side of her face. He was trying to figure out how to even discuss what was going on in his head. 

Knowing that look, she kissed one of his hands. “Want to talk about it finally?” she asked gently.

He nodded, walking over to the bed to sit on it, crosslegged. She sat in front of him. 

“I never got that bad without the music before,” he finally said, playing with the fabric of his trousers; it was the only thing he wore at the moment. “There were times where I came close,” he said. “Once during our fight in the US. When that one guy…” he trailed off, gently stroking the scar on her collarbone; the one that came dangerously close to her throat. “But it was just a few moments. And he...he deserved every hit. Besides, afterward? I was fine.” 

Whip nodded, stroking his hand. 

“It happened with Johan...but I knew what I was doing. I... _controlled_ it. I know I did. I...felt it. Whatever _it_ is, I knew what I was doing.” He looked off to the side. “With W...Wilhelm, it was like I was gone. I couldn’t control it. I don’t even _remember_ all of it. It was...again like the music.” He swallowed. “I don’t want to get worse,” he said, his voice full of sorrow at that thought. “What if this just gets worse?”

She shook her head. “I don’t think you’ll lose control. I was there for Johan...and even in that fight in the US. When you were threatening them at the beginning.”

“That’s the weird thing. I really did feel like I was getting some control over it. And then...it came back. When it all went wrong...when the news hit, it was like _something_ was...scratching at my brain.” He looked at her. “I can’t explain it. But it _felt_ like it did when that certain music hit it. Like just the _idea_ that he could have betrayed me…” he trailed off. “I know he didn’t. But it was like it _forced_ its way out.”

Holding his hands now, she tried to think. This was admittedly not her expertise. With Leona, or even Iori, it came from a different place...bloodlines, and everything, and it was usually something specific; Orochi’s presence. It almost made it easier to understand. Leona had been fine since after the last tournament, though she couldn’t speak for Yagami, as she didn’t know him much, but she knew he got it several times worse than Leona-while Ralf and Clark were able to restrain and calm her down, Yagami would tear through anyone-and _anything_ -in his path. 

She knew what Adelheid had was...different. It may have come _from_ the power, but it didn’t seem linked fully to it. She had even spoken to Heidern about it before in the past; he too said he could tell it was not like the others had. 

Which, again, made it more difficult to figure out. It was almost like whatever that Hakkeshu priest had done to his father all those years ago passed on some strange, malevolent seed of power that bonded with Adelheid. His berserk fury was different from a Riot in that during a Riot, the person usually had no idea what they were doing. He had only fragmented memory, but he almost seemed to get a perverse _pleasure_ from the violence he would inflict during his rage; like he couldn’t help himself. Violence went from a necessary evil to something he relished. 

“The Killing Spirit,” she had heard it referred to as. The simplest explanation was that he did inherit some of his father’s bad side...it was just kept very well under control by his good nature. This, coupled with the _actual_ power that had passed on, could have formed some sort of unholy union in him. 

Whatever it was...she knew he feared it. And yet…

She had _seen_ him control it. 

Finally speaking up, she smiled again. “You...you’re stronger than it, I know. I think...maybe we just need to find out what _it_ needs. What let you control it before.”

He nodded, looking down. “I...I’ll think back to the times where I remembered, and the times that I don’t...maybe there’s something there.” Running his thumb over her hand, he continued. “I’ll try to figure out how...during that time in the US...and then afterward-that, I had it under control. I knew what I was doing. Whatever happened then...that’s what I need to figure out.”

She smiled. “There may be something there, then.” 

Laying back a moment, he opened his arms. “Come here,” he said, immediately sliding his arms around her when she did. She leaned against him, her hands going down his muscular form, as his leg slid over hers, locking her in. She always loved when he did this; and while he would never keep her if she had to move, she sort of liked how she couldn’t move one even if she tried. 

Nuzzling over to kiss her deeply; he traced his lips down her neck, ending with kissing the scar that was on her collarbone several times, almost protectively. He rested against her shoulder after as she continued stroking his hair. 

“Are you hungry?” she asked. 

“I think I will be soon,” he smiled. 

They lay there in silence again for some time. His eyes were closed, and for a few moments she had thought he had gone back to sleep given how early it was, but they opened after a time. 

Looking out the window from the bed-most of the curtains were closed except for one-he noticed the rain had slowed somewhat, even though the clouds were still quite dark. He turned toward her, pushing back some of her hair. 

“Want to go for a walk for a while?” he said. “It’s a bit rainy still, but...”

She smiled. “Yes,” she said. “I like how it smells.” 

Sliding out of bed, he starting to rummage around in his dresser for some clothes; he opted for one of his looser tank tops which he liked to wear around his room-when he bothered with a shirt at all-and a set of his usual easy-to-move in trousers, as if he was going to run into a fight somewhere. He liked to dress more laid back and comfortable these days. 

Hers were in a separate part of his dresser. He had cleaned a couple of drawers out for her that she could use on her more extended stays so she didn’t have to live out of her luggage; it was something else she appreciated, since it meant she basically had a second home here. 

Finally all dressed, they stepped out of the corridors-no one was around, not even Gwan trying to get into the kitchens. They eventually made their way downstairs and out, enjoying the smell of the early spring air. It was still a touch on the chilly side-both of them needed their jackets-but it was nice, nonetheless. 

He pulled the hood of his long rain jacket up; like most of his coats, it was black. Whip had one of her military-style rain jackets which worked quite well. It was maybe nine degrees Celsius out, making it feel like the spring was desperately trying to poke through. 

As they walked, he looked up. “I remember mornings like these, somehow, when I was a kid. The cloudy ones. I don’t know why, but I think I liked going out in them when we would dock somewhere.” He kicked at the wet grass; he wore his standard boots which he had treated to keep waterproof. “I liked how it sounded and smelled.”

Whip squeezed his hand as they walked. “Moments of peace where you could find them?”

“I think so.”

“Like my novels,” she said. “They were great for escape.”

He smiled softly at that. “Find anything on my shelves? I don’t even remember half of what’s up there. I used to read more when I was younger, but then I got too busy. I liked the horror novels a lot, but I had a bunch of stuff there.”

“A couple, actually, were really good,” she said. “One of them was a bit boring. Another one...I’m not sure how old you were when you got it but I’m not sure it would have been appropriate for anyone too young,” she laughed. 

He snorted at that, chuckling. “I _may_ have snuck that one out of the big library, I don’t quite remember. It’s been awhile.”

Rubbing his hand with her thumb as they walked, they found themselves soon passing a grove of trees-not the ones they were at the last time, as the Noah was docked in a slightly different area-and moving on their way to the city proper. They weren’t going anywhere in particular; they just seemed to be wandering. 

Looking up, she held her hand out, catching some of the drops. “Will be nice when we can go out without coats again,” she said. 

“I miss last summer already,” he said, looking out over the field toward the place where the hill went down to start to meet with the city outskirts. “I would like to go back to Vienna again.”

“Same,” she replied, smiling. “Still hoping about that one pub.”

“That it’s not a weird sex shop?”

Now, she burst out laughing. Looking up at him-the usual smirk on his face she knew-she was happy to see his humor was returning. “One can hope.”

“I mean, we could still have our return date there...it’ll just be a bit… _different_ ,” he trailed off, snickering. 

She, too, couldn’t stop giggling at this.

As they made their way around some more, she could have sworn she heard his stomach growl. 

“Okay. _You_ need to eat,” she said, poking him. “You know...the hotel we’re at this time has a good buffet. It’s big, it starts around seven and lasts for four hours. It’s only a little after seven now. We can drive there.”

He smiled. “Yeah. Let’s go.”

They made their way back to the Sky Noah, where the parking area was; Adel already had his keys, so they found his car and hopped in. 

Whip quite liked his personal car; there was the limo they would use, of course, as well as a couple of more classy cars, but his was a manual sport sedan, colored black. It was modern and top of the line, with about any extras you’d want-but it was also not some sort of typical sports car you might expect a rich, young man to own. 

He had said he didn’t like cars that were too small, as they cramped his legs. 

Leaning back in the seat, she liked how his car smelled; mostly like him. It was comfortable and smooth to ride in; he usually drove it pretty fast heading down the highway into the city. 

The Sky Noah was usually docked in a field nearby a major city; sort of like one may deal with an airfield. Given it could take off vertically, it needed no actual airstrip; any permits were, of course, taken care of through the Bernsteins’ vast wealth. There would be smaller roads leading toward the highways that would lead into the cities proper; this is where their vehicles came and went. On extended dockings-like this one-garages would be put up for vehicles and maintenance. It was fully capable of staying in flight for a full day, though needed to refuel and such afterward. She and her crew had gotten to ride on it for the entire time before; it had been quite interesting-smoother than anything. She had barely felt like she was in the air at any point. 

As they pulled onto the highway-Adelheid speeding up a little as he was starting to get rather hungry at this point, she noticed the rain slowing some, though the sky was giving no signs of clearing up. She didn’t mind; it made things quite cosy. 

Settling back, she enjoyed the ride, her eyes closing for a few moments. 

\--

Thankfully, the hotel restaurant was nice and empty. It was quite early, after all, when they had gotten there. 

Having finished their rather extensive breakfast-Whip exceedingly happy to have seen Adelheid put away his requisite amount of food again-the two of them stepped out into the wet weather; the drizzle had stopped for now, but Adelheid had seemed to not want to go back to the Sky Noah just yet. 

Looking down the street, he pointed. “That park looks nice,” he said. “Empty.”

She nodded. “May be a nice place to talk. It’s pretty wet out...I don’t think anyone will go there.”

Walking with him-once again, her fingers interlocked with hers-they stepped through the gate, closing it. There were a few trees and other things to climb on, but they went to a corner that had a low concrete wall around, with a tree nearby. He sat, her sitting next to him as she leaned against him for a moment. 

“I think I’m starting to feel a little more...normal,” he said. “I’m just trying to figure out where to go from here.” 

She smiled softly; she was glad he seemed ready to talk about it more. They had left off of it this morning, after they started to poke at it; she figured he would continue when he was ready. 

“I remember I told you before...it always needed the music,” he continued, staring at the ground Whip took his hand. “It started, like I said, after the secretaries sort of got to Rose some. They disappeared from the picture after my father died, and we know what happened to them, of course.”

“She’d use it sometimes, you said.”

“Yes. When we would end up really disagreeing on one. I would end things in self defense, of course...” His voice grew low, as they _were_ in a public place, even if it was empty. “But when there was one she was...really angry at...it would start. I don’t really remember the first time.” 

She nodded. 

“She started using it a little more as time went on. I...never liked it. I would come out of it, and...well, you know. But it wasn’t too often. But when she started meeting with those strange people…” he trailed off.

“To say they are affecting her is an understatement,” she said. “But…”

“Yeah,” he finished, leaving the rest unsaid, that being _“We can’t find them.”_ He reached his hand over to smooth some of Whip’s hair back, as he would. “Never, though...it never happened without it. These past months...as you know, I’ve had to deal with more incidents. More old enemies coming back.”

“I know that you’ve had to go all the way more often,” she said. 

“Yeah. And then in the US...I...well I lost it somewhat on the one. But I came back. And then later…” he trailed off. 

“Like I said earlier...you’re capable of controlling it,” she continued, still holding his hand. “I know you are. We just need to find the...catch, I guess you can say.”

He nodded. “That’s the hard part.” 

They sat in silence for several moments; occasionally a car would drive down the street, though no one walked by. He scuffed the dirt with his boot, digging a hole in the ground absently as he thought. 

Whip turned toward him after some time. 

“When was the last time you had to fight before the other night?” she asked. 

“Like...training? Or…”

“A bad one.”

“During your long trip. Before I got the piercings,” he said. “So...over a month ago? And they pulled guns, as usual.” He cocked his head to the side. “Why do you ask?”

“I was just wondering if there was some connection,” she said. “How did you feel?”

“Not bad,” he said. “That whole week was pretty bad for those, to be honest. This one real nasty bunch just popped out of the woodwork. I finally had to go to their hideout to send a message. But I didn't feel anything out of the ordinary...mainly just disgust at them.” 

She knew exactly what he meant. “I’m...sorry, Adel,” she said after a moment. “If you get...upset remembering anything...tell me.”

He nodded. “It’s okay. I want to know why I snapped. I _need_ to know. Or…” he trailed off. 

“I know you guys get attacked a lot,” she said. 

“Yeah,” he agreed. 

“When your sister started...was it always as...bad?” she asked, trying to figure out how to carefully word it.

“Not...so much. As I got older...the rage got more extreme. I started to... _enjoy_ it.” He looked down. The remains, he knew, got more and more bloody, broken...and then mutilated. Eventually he had just started _pulverizing_ his enemies to death when he snapped. It wasn’t like his enemies were _pretty_ after he took them out normally-his choice of finishing move being either one of his terrible, grounded axe kicks or a genocide cutter, both of which resulted in all sorts of blood and much worse-but that was usually just the fault of his absurd strength. He didn't torment them leading up to it, he didn't keep it _going_ afterward, nor did he particularly relish it. Occasionally, when he would take out a really _nasty_ foe-some of the people his father worked with almost gleefully, or would have-he would feel some satisfaction, but that was more at the fact they wouldn't be hurting anybody anymore, rather than the actual killing blow itself. 

Thinking back to Wilhelm disturbed him, and when his mind wandered back to that terrible night with Whip and the music, he started to tremble. It wasn’t the others he killed that got to him-they had attacked him with the intent to kill. The vast majority of them had been pretty terrible, as it was.

But...when had his hand reached out and...

At this, Whip stood to hold him; his arms immediately went around her waist, his head resting on her chest. 

“You alright, Adel?” she asked.

“Yeah,” he sighed. “Sorry.” That night had remained one of the worst of his life. 

“Don’t be,” she said. She looked down at him as he looked up, his chin on her stomach. She brushed back his hair. “I almost...wish this was as easy as the...Orochi thing,” she said. “Usually if the seal is alright, things are fine in that case.”

“Where in this case, I don’t know _what_ it is.” 

He leaned back after a few moments, his hands behind him. He had dug quite a rut in the ground out of nervousness, he noticed. 

“It’s almost like...the more I fight, the better I feel,” he suddenly said. 

“Hmm?”

“I was thinking about it. I...those times we were fighting. And other times. I’ll be honest...the past couple of years, there’s been very few times where I haven’t had to put someone down who tried to kill us every couple of weeks it feels like.” He shook his head. “Jesus, that’s a lot of people,” he muttered to no one in particular. He opened and closed one of his hands as he felt her kiss the top of his head. He looked up again. “But...if they insist...I’ll finish them. But after I finally got a break from it...Wilhelm…” He shook his head, shutting his eyes. “I hated how I felt during it. He didn’t...he didn’t _do_ _anything_.” 

“You were...under a lot of stress,” she said. “After everything that happened…”

“I know. I just…it was like a voice was telling me that he was lying. That he turned on me. And it kept going. And going. It was like almost... _clawing_ at my brain.” He brought his legs up again to wrap his arms around them as she sat next to him. “That... _that_ was the thing that had never happened without the music. The little voice. The clawing feeling.”

“Did it happen with Johan?” she asked. 

“No, that’s the thing,” he said. “I _knew_ what he did. But I was able to just...let it out. It didn’t _try_ to escape. I _let_ it.”

“It’s so weird,” Whip replied, scratching her head a moment. “Just a few days before we had that...horrible fight in the yard of the gentleman’s club. That...there was _so_ much bloodshed. Yet you were in perfect control for Johan...where you hadn’t actually had any problems for nearly a month before...the other night,” she said gently. “And you were fine in that fight, too. You wrested control back after that one enemy...and fairly easily, too.” She found it so strange when she thought about it; there he was, in the fight, surrounded by blood and gore...and he had just gotten done utterly crushing the man who had almost cut her throat. He had definitely lost it some there...

Yet, he returned to sense incredibly fast. 

“I... _hope_ it’s not getting worse.” He closed his eyes. “But...I know it is. Might as well not hide from it. But you’re right. It seems that I was able to better control it after-and even during-a nasty fight. It feels like I’m able to better deal with it during...rougher times.”

“Maybe...that’s something,” she said. “It’s...something small, but it’s more than what we started with this morning when we talked about it.”

Opening his eyes, he looked at her, a tiny smile tugging at the corner of his mouth. “You might be right,” he said, touching her under the chin with a finger, before sliding his hand under there to lift her head just a bit. “Going to think about it some. I...can’t ignore it anymore.” 

Kissing him softly, she stroked the side of his face. “We'll figure it out."

Pressing his forehead to hers as he would, she slid her hands around his neck as they sat in the park together, alone; the only sounds were the occasional car and the rustling of the trees.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A bit of a talky chapter, but it’s more or less necessary for him to figure out what the hell is wrong, and what happened. 
> 
> “You mention him holding back his strength…” I’ve said earlier in the series that I base some of his ability on the comics, and in that he’s literally trampling through steel floors, kicking through steel walls and blowing up forests when he stomps the ground in a shockwave...where he admits he’s holding back. While I don’t think he’s like, Yagami-under-Riot-of-the-Blood levels(I mean, who the hell IS), I like the idea how he can *unload*; the weaker defenses thing comes from actual in-game stuff(he’s got far better offense than defense in XI.) I picture him fighting in a way that he can tear through opponents, but sometimes focuses too much on that, so those hits can add up. (Your headcanons may vary; I put him on ‘SNK Boss Level’ since he WAS exactly that in ‘03, but this doesn’t mean he’s invulnerable by any means.)
> 
> Oh yeah, for Americans, 9c is a little under fifty degrees fahrenheit, so it’s a fairly standard early spring morning. 
> 
> His whole ‘killing spirit’ is a bit of a quandry; since it’s not like a Blood Riot or anything(it may be a similar result, but the cause is different.) It’s not so ‘obvious’ as ‘keeping people away from the Hakkeshu/flimsy seals’. 
> 
> But you might see they’re onto a *little* something, if you look closely. 
> 
> The sex shop mention was in a previous story; it was a call back to the two discussing going to visit the pub they had their first date on as sort of an anniversary; however, given it would have been a year, they joked that the thing may have closed and changed into something. One of those things they mused about was a ‘weird sex shop.’


	6. Chapter 6

Arriving back after their long morning out, it was now close to noon; still overcast and rainy outside, they nonetheless appreciated the fresh air. Before they had retired back to his room, he went to go check on Rose. She was in the middle of some sort of business call, but she nodded and waved at the two of them. Gwan was snoozing near her legs as he would, and judging by the purr, he had just eaten. They couldn’t quite tell what the call was about, but there seemed to be nothing too strange going on. He tried to keep watch to see if he could catch something weird again, but he hadn’t yet. 

He didn’t know if it was because things were returning to normal, or whoever was getting involved with her had decided to step back for a moment, as Adelheid and Heidern had been quite often on their trails. 

In any case, he had other things to worry about...both for his family’s sake, as well as his own. He mostly just tried to make sure his sister was safe, and not backsliding into her previous much darker moods of several months ago. She was always ambitious, and he knew how sadistic she could get from time to time siccing him on enemies...but there were limits to that with her, he knew. 

Adel slung his coat onto the rack near his door, tossed his boots off and collapsed face first onto the bed; Whip chuckled as he shifted his head slightly to look at her. 

She walked over after taking her own things off, ruffling his hair. “Feeling any better?”

“Yeah. Lots,” he said, smiling softly, not changing position.

“You probably needed food,” she said, moving forward to lay next to him as he shifted to prop himself up on his arm. “You hadn’t eaten properly in days. And to talk everything out, of course.” Her hand was gentle in his hair. “That sort of thing...keeping it bottled up....you know I’m always here.” She knew that due to his sister’s distance-through no fault of her own, she knew now-he had very little in the way of anyone to really talk to if she wasn’t there. She knew he was close to Henrik...but it still wasn’t the same. 

“I was glad to have my appetite again,” he said, closing his eyes at the feel of her stroking his hair. “And yeah...I...feel better. Starting to feel like I’m able to figure things out.”

She did this for a while more, as he leaned his head down. She kept stroking him, a slightly sad smile on her face. One might wonder how he could recover so... _ quickly _ from something like that-it had been just over a week, perhaps-but she knew that, unfortunately, he was no stranger to it. 

It was almost like he  _ had _ to harden himself to it. 

“Mmmm,” he said, sighing. “I do have to do a few things on the computer,” he muttered. “Maybe I’ll do it now while I’m still awake.” He had gotten up early, and her touch was comforting to him. 

Whip smirked, leaning in to kiss him; he met her and deepened it for a few moments. Separating, she went to grab her book to lean back on the bed to read, as he grabbed his laptop to work next to her. 

Admittedly, he was a bit distracted. Part of this was him mulling over everything he had talked about this morning with her so far, and the other part was just him enjoying being next to her. He was mostly trying to look up a few leads he may have had to try to see what he could dig up.

Sitting up for a moment to throw most of the rest of his clothes off save for the trousers-the room was nice and warm-he then lay down on his stomach to continue searching around here and there through his messages and contacts. Shaking his head, he almost wanted to take a break from anything related to this whole situation, to clear his mind some with anything. He thought, perhaps, he could start fresh after some relaxation and some brain-dead computer surfing. 

Whip looked over at him a moment, smiling. “Going to grab a shower. I’ll be back,” she said. 

He nodded, tickling her side quickly as she got up. 

Even after some time, Adel still had trouble focusing. His brain was being pulled every which way; he felt like he  _ shouldn’t _ be ignoring everything, but at the same time, he knew he couldn’t  _ force _ things. He felt responsible for everything that happened...though he didn’t want to stress himself out, either. 

Sighing, he decided to listen to reason and just surf some random sites, deciding on ones with more dirty humor than the grim true crime sites and others of their ilk at the moment. 

It didn’t take long for Whip to get out of the shower, a bit of steam still coming out from the door as she left the bathroom. Dressing in the usual tank top and loose shorts which she would wear when lounging around his room during the day, she dropped her other clothes off onto the couch and looked back over at Adel lying there, his chin on his arm, as he stared at his laptop. He had now come across an almost horrifying site of videos pertaining to food; or, well, what was  _ supposed _ to be food. They were more akin to culinary war crimes. 

He looked awfully tense, she felt, despite his relaxed pose, though she supposed the expression on his face had come from whatever it was he had just pulled up.

As he lay on his stomach, trying to pull away from the horrible site once he came across a video of someone making hot dog and jello salad, she came over to sit across his rear to run her hands down his back. She always liked when he gave her massages...so she decided to return the favor, especially with how tense he looked, and felt, now that she managed to feel his muscles some a bit more. She had noticed this as they were holding each other in the morning. 

“Mmmm…” he said, suddenly losing track of what he was doing. Turning around, he grinned. 

“You looked tense,” she said, starting to rub his broad shoulders with some firm pressure. “You feel it, too.”

“I guess I don’t need to work right now,” he said, sighing contentedly. He shut his laptop, pushing it off to the side as he rest his head on his arms. “Not like it was going anywhere. I can’t think.”

“No, you don’t. You relax. You’ve had... _a_ _lot_ to deal with,” she said, continuing to rub. She started around his neck, running down his shoulders and started down his back; using the palm of her hand, pressing into his muscles, trying to relax him. Bit by bit-with the help of some soft-smelling lotion she had off to the side-he began to unwind from her actions. 

He had quite a lot of muscle to work through; this was by no means the first time she had massaged him, but whenever she did it was a little challenge in its own right. One that she enjoyed, of course. Moving down his spine with the palm of her hand, she added a little more lotion to him to make it easier. 

Muttering under his breath some about how good it felt, he chuckled as she reached somewhat of a ticklish spot. She hit him again-this time on purpose-as he laughed again, starting to turn over as she finished up with him, so she was now straddling his waist looking down at him. 

Teasing his rings a bit, she grinned as he slid his hands around her waist. “Was that alright?” she asked.

“More than alright. Thanks,” he said, a heavy lidded smile on his face. She could...also feel something happening behind her, around his midsection area. This made her quite happy; it felt like he was starting to get back to normal. 

His large hands traced down her sides, over her firm stomach as he lay there; pulling her more up onto his chest, he leaned in to kiss it several times, his hands continuing to wander over her body. 

She felt him getting intimate again; this made her happy in more than just a physical way. Besides just loving to  _ be  _ physical with him, she was even happier that he seemed to find himself enough again to  _ want _ to be; that, to her, was the most important part. They had been alone for several days, and he hadn’t done much at all-which was completely understandable. 

Adelheid himself had found himself missing it; he was afraid to do much more besides just cuddle with her and kiss her. But as the days passed on, he began to miss the closeness...now, he just wanted to lose himself in her. The massage she gave him made him feel really good-now he wanted to return the favor...in his  _ own _ way. 

Lifting her off of him he sat up, switching position. 

He continued to hold her gently as he laid her on the bed; leaning over her with his legs on either side. He continued to kiss her deeply as he held her from underneath; her arms still around his neck. Breaking the kiss to continue down her jaw to her ear, he gave it light, teasing kisses as he let the tongue stud drag over her skin before he went back to her mouth, taking her lower lip in his. The head was at the other end; he had laid her out on the king-sized bed backward, but no one particularly cared at this moment. 

He now seemed much more focused; he broke his rather fierce kiss before nuzzling close to her, breathing heavily. Her own hands traced all over him; enjoying the feel of him against her again. 

He changed up; still holding her, he stood and walked over to the wall with her as she slid her legs around his waist. They did often enjoy the standing position; he could hold her easily, and she liked the feel of everything from up there. 

His kisses stayed very hungry; as his lips made their way down her neck again, he nipped occasionally at it. His hands were rougher, and he felt like the last remnants of the nastiness from the past days were now finally starting to fall away. She matched him, still incredibly happy that he was feeling better. 

After a time, he placed her down to stand; he was fully planning on pleasuring her thoroughly first. He was not one to rush...but he wanted her again, and badly. Getting the massage, and then kissing her for the past several minutes, made him want her even more. 

He knelt, his lips tracing down her stomach, sliding to the side to bite at her hips, causing her to squeal and laugh. His hair tickled her as she ran her hands through it. 

While he was wasting no time in starting, he  _ certainly _ didn’t plan on rushing things. 

He smiled up at her; that familiar, wicked look in his eyes that she missed these past days. He quickly tugged down her shorts to toss aside, but he did not begin right away, pressing her head against her lower stomach, he teased the skin right below her navel with his tongue, before kissing it slowly. 

As he rested his head there, listening to her heavy breathing as he punctuated his slow kisses with some teasing with his tongue, he inhaled, smelling her familiar, clean, feminine scent. He missed intimacy; he was simply afraid for the past few days. He was afraid to do anything more than just hold her and kiss her...he had been afraid of what was inside of himself.

But he missed this; he missed hearing her moans of pleasure, and he just missed... _ her _ . 

Whip felt him slide over again to nip and kiss at her thigh; he was taking his time again, and as she played with her hair, watching him, she suddenly sucked in breath at the small bite he gave her. 

She grinned. They had been exploring getting ever so slightly rougher once in a while-neither of them were terribly kinky, but they liked to try new things. They discovered they sort of liked this. 

Watching him go back over to her center to kiss her mound, she met his gaze as he flickered his tongue out to begin pleasuring her more in earnest; he sat, his legs behind him, so he could easier get between her legs. Grasping her rear, he sighed in content as he tasted her again finally; he started to delve further into her, more intense, after he swallowed some of what had already started to come. Stroking her slowly with his tongue, lashing it lightly around her folds, and tickling her up inside with the tip of his tongue and the barbell, he breathed in her scent again, finally losing himself. 

He moaned in pleasure himself, allowing the barbell to work around her in tandem with his tongue; once again that temperature difference delivered an extra dose of pleasure, causing her to get quite loud. She had missed this. Her hands tangled into his soft hair as she held him there; she slid one leg over his shoulder, balancing on one for a time as she felt him begin to suck at her clit, the tip of his tongue swirling around it as he did, sometimes dragging the steel stud over it.

When he nipped at her, she cried out in pleasure. 

While Adel didn’t rush his foreplay-he  _ always _ took his time, unless they had to get done quickly-he wanted to feel her orgasm; as he pressed mouth harder against her while sucking at her incredibly sensitive organ, he felt her shiver, trying to keep standing. Despite her excellent balance, it became difficult. He helped support her with his arm, as he drew her clit into his mouth, sucking faster at it, letting his tongue roll over it at the same time. He would occasionally bring his tongue down to prolong it, but he finally decided to bring her all the way. 

She moaned loudly finally as she came; dropping her leg down so she could steady herself through the trembling of her ecstasy. 

He dipped his tongue into her, letting it get coated with her honey as he drank it in, missing her taste. Breathing heavily-and hard to the point where it was almost painful-he didn’t move until he felt her hands begin to loosen their grip on his head...which took a few moments, to be sure. 

She wasn’t ready to let him stop right away. 

Even then, he pulled away slowly, his mouth soaked. He leaned against her thigh, kissing and nipping at it a few more times as Whip exhaled above him. His breathing was almost as heavy as hers. 

He looked up at her, continuing to tease her as he smirked; she  _ missed _ that look. 

She  _ also _ missed how he would usually insist on extended sessions of head, just like he started to do at this moment. Breaking away for a moment, he led her to the bed to lay on it as he knelt next to it to continue; her legs were easier able to sling around his shoulders now. 

Running the flat of his tongue up her from bottom to top-pausing to tease her some with both the small stud and the tip-he pressed back into her, sliding his tongue inside. Her hands slid into his hair again as she threw her head back, moaning a bit loudly, but not caring. As always, it felt incredible. She liked getting vocal with him; they liked getting vocal with each other, and these days now that the servants were usually given instructions to leave them alone when the door was shut to his room, they had no issues with untimely interruptions. 

He moaned low in his throat as he continued pleasuring her. His breathing still heavy, he lashed his tongue around her again, sliding down to poke inside of her for a few moments, enjoying the feeling of her starting to thrust her hips into him. He knew that the second orgasms that he’d give her were often more intense than the first. 

Sliding to the side to nip at her thighs more, rubbing her firm rear in his hands, he slid back over to her center again to flick his tongue against her some more, adding another nip to her sensitive sex.

Squirming at his teasing, feeling his tongue slide deep inside of her to press against her slick walls, she pushed against him, letting the amazing feeling wash over her again. Holding his head tightly, he answered in kind, holding her thighs in his hands as he worked to bring her over a second time. 

Nipping at her a few more times, the rough, delightful actions of his tongue finally pushed her over the edge again; shaking even more, she came harder yet, his mouth, chin and more becoming soaked as he moaned, drinking her in again. His eyes were closed in contentment as he inhaled deeply, finally pulling away when he was satisfied she was finished; licking her more around as she shivered in pleasure. 

He was so hard right now, he just wanted to begin; as he kissed up her stomach-even after licking his lips, his mouth and chin were soaked, as was the bed underneath her. She was panting, staring at the ceiling for a few moments before she looked at him. Every time he did this he always seemed to manage to find something else she liked. 

Touching his lips with her fingers, she grinned. “What got into you?” she asked. He hadn’t been that... _ hungry _ in awhile. 

“I missed this,” he said plainly, nibbling at her stomach. Truth be told, he could keep going. He had, numerous times, went longer...but he sort of wanted to go further at the moment, and he knew she may become too sensitive if he kept at it. Usually if he gave her a particularly long session of oral, it would be a time where he would just let her fall asleep on him after…there were times where he just liked to please her. He knew that she had mostly lived before with little in the way of comfort, let alone intimacy, so there were times where he just liked to make sure she was taken care of, even if she ended up too tired after his actions to do any more.

She  _ definitely _ appreciated this, even though she never even had to say anything. 

He sat up, licking his lips again as he grabbed a package from the dresser, though as he did, she pushed up to him, teasing his nipple rings as she started to kiss him rather hard where he stood. One hand slid up and held onto his neck as the other teased him as his own hands ran down her back firmly. 

Her hands slid to his waist where she started to undo his trousers; pushing them down, she grasped his member, stroking him slowly as she continued to kiss him. He uttered a pleasured moan from his throat as she did this; at this point, she wanted to return the favor at least for a bit before they made love. 

She just wanted to be whole with him again. 

Sliding down, she kissed down his chest, teasing his nipple ring with her tongue for a moment; this caused him to shiver as she gently tweaked the other one. She didn’t spend too much time here, as she knew they were still healing-nipple rings could take awhile to heal-but continued down until she reached his member. The tip was already wet, as he was incredibly turned on from what he had just done-as he always was-but she teased it lightly anyway as she then slid it into her mouth as she massaged his huge thighs.

Which she always loved doing, to be sure. She even stopped a moment to lean in to nip at his thighs some, which caused him to both gasp and chuckle a moment; surprised, he smirked down at her as he played with her hair. 

Knowing she didn’t have long here if they wanted to go all the way, she slid his member back into her mouth and brought one of her hands underneath, teasing him down around low...and slightly behind, in the rather sensitive spot between his legs. 

At this, she felt his hand tighten on her head just a bit as he threw his head back, grunting rather loudly, shivering, though keeping his balance. His breathing grew heavier as he ran his fingers through her hair; the other hand rubbing her shoulder while she teased him; drawing back some, she teased the tip of his cock again with the tip of her tongue before taking him deep one more time. 

He looked down at her, his lids heavy, with a smirk on his face. 

Whip teased him a while more before she pulled back, kissing him on the tip a few times as she slid back up him, teasing his nipple rings once on the way as he leaned down to kiss her fiercely, running his hands down her back. She could feel his member pressing against her, ready for her. 

He set himself up and lifted her off the ground, settling her onto him as he walked by the wall; she exhaled in pleasure, finally one with him again. He nuzzled her face, kissing her neck up to her jaw until he reached her mouth as he began to thrust; the position giving him a very deep penetration which felt great to both of him. She also worked down onto him as she had her arms wrapped around him, thrusting up and down, matching him. 

After everything that had happened-and the extended time that they hadn’t done anything, which had been a bit more than a week at this point-it didn’t take him long to reach his end point; thrusting harder as their breathing grew heavier yet-they were quite sweaty at the moment-he eventually let go with a loud growl, him leaning down to bite at her shoulder at the same time, causing her to both gasp from the pinch and moan afterward in pleasure. 

As he slowed down, staying inside of her some more moments as they embraced; he shivered a few more times as he settled down. Drawing his head back, he looked at her, reaching his hand up to stroke her face; she smiled softly, leaning forward to kiss him. She kissed him lightly on the mouth, again and again, as she pressed her forehead to his. 

“Thank you,” he said, a small smile on his face. 

“What for?” 

“Everything,” he said, meeting her in a kiss; it lingered for a long time as they stood there. 

\--

Sitting back against the headboard again, Adel looked down at Whip, who was curled up contentedly next to him with one of the sci-novels she hadn’t read yet. His arm was over her, with the blanket over their legs. They had showered together afterward, like they often did after sex. 

She was very happy about the current situation. Being intimate with him again was a great sign; he was no longer as afraid of himself, as at first he was afraid to do much except hold her, or kiss her. She let him come out of his shell at his own pace; she just lent whatever support he needed. 

Playing with her hair some, he smiled. “That felt good,” he said. “I missed that.”

“I’m glad to see you getting back to your... _ usual _ habits,” she grinned. She had a very pleasant ache in her midsection from the entire session. 

He wiggled his eyebrows at her once, grinning back as he teasingly flicked his tongue at her ear a few times, causing her to giggle. He then nuzzled at her, though let her continue reading, as she looked incredibly comfortable. His hand slid around her waist as she sighed. 

Finishing the chapter she was on as he lay there quietly, she tucked the marker back in to turn around, her face now close to his. Sneaking in a kiss, she cupped his cheek in her hand. 

“Are you feeling better overall? You...seem it. But just making sure.”

“I am. I’m...still thinking about things...but I just wanted to…” he fell into a kiss with her again for a moment. “If you knew how much you’re helping right now…”

She smiled, nuzzling up to him. “Always,” she said. “We’ll figure it out. No matter how long-or what-it takes.” 

As they held each other again, curled up under the covers, she thought about everything that was going on at the moment. He had helped her through countless nightmares and insecurities so far in their months, and now, she hoped to finally start to get to the bottom of the terrible power that was lurking inside of him. Even though neither one knew  _ exactly _ what the other was going through, they helped the best ways they could.

“We can go out again tomorrow. I think wandering around helps me think about it.” 

“Of course,” she said. She knew he would go off on his own to train; that was sort of his ‘getting it all out’ time. But she had enjoyed the early spring walks the two had been taking. 

Adel’s eyes closed for a while, and he was quiet, just enjoying being next to each other after everything. He spoke after some time, his eyes not opening yet. 

“I feel like...I’m going to have an answer soon,” he said, finally looking at her; Whip had turned around to face him so she could stroke his hair. “After everything, I...might be getting close to something.”

“It’ll happen,” she said, cradling the side of his face in one of her hands, brushing her fingers lightly over him. “It’ll probably hit you before you know it. Don’t ignore it...but I don’t think you can force it, either, like I said.”

“I know. I get nervous about it. But it’s like the more I try to focus…”

“It’s how these things work sometimes,” she said. “But I’ll be here. The whole way.”

She watched as he laid down, and she leaned over onto him; resting on his chest, she leaned close to kiss him more. He returned them; they started light, and then deepened as he slid his hand into her hair. 

Taking her advice, he let his mind relax for the rest of the day. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> They needed this, let’s face it. It’s a great step; he’s no longer afraid of himself, at least-it’s probably been over a week, which for them is an oddity for them to not be intimate(they’ve separated for longer, of course, due to work, but if they’re together, they are quite comfortable being physical.) So for him to be able to find himself again there is certainly a good step. 
> 
> They have some more work to do for sure...


	7. Chapter 7

Maybe it had been their intimacy the day before, but Adelheid had slept better that night than he had all week. 

He supposed that he had simply missed that contact with her, but another part of it was the fact that he had sort of gotten past his fear; that fear of himself, since he had a lot of mental issues to fight past that week. Yesterday, they had done little but lounge around; they had gotten intimate again before bed, as well, which finally put them both out before midnight. They had not woken up until after eight. 

This day had been relatively uneventful, all told. He had tried to take his time to go over some leads, but he didn't find much. He thought he may have had  _ something _ -he found some details, and after getting in touch with an old contact confirmed there were some problems down at another seedy place the other night, but he couldn’t confirm if Edward and his people were involved or not. It was better than nothing, at least, since he could follow up on it. 

It was now nighttime, and Adelheid had been finishing off his workout. He had already done his lone training outside to clear his head earlier in the day, while Whip worked in his room.

They were together there now, as Whip looked over to the corner where Adel happened to be hanging from his legs from a pull up bar. While he kept most of the workout stuff of his in the large gym of the Sky Noah, and most of his absurd strength came from places  _ not _ typical that didn’t really need maintaining, he still worked out to make sure it never dropped below ‘bloody absurd.’ 

Right now, he was pulling himself up...while upside down. She chuckled at this. 

“You look like a bat,” she said, smirking. She could see some of the light glint off of his now almost six week old rings, which felt like they had been a part of him for ages. She had, a few times, considered getting something herself-she wasn’t sure where-but she wondered how the military would take it. She  _ was _ part of the Ikari Warriors, a mercenary unit who were not particularly strict with things like dress code, but she still wondered what the limitations were. 

He stuck his tongue out at her, grinning as he did them effortlessly; he wasn’t even out of breath when he’d speak from time to time. He had been doing this for a while; she wondered how the blood hadn’t all rushed to his head. 

Having already done his squats-making sure he was impossibly weighed down for maximum strength-and some various kicking exercises with yet more weight on his legs-he was satisfied. There wasn’t much he could do to push himself at this point that didn’t have him running with heavy logs in the snowy wilderness or training in other ways that they would in the ridiculous action movies from a couple decades before, so he usually just opted for weighing himself down as much as he could before exercising. 

Unlatching his legs, he caught himself on his hands, cleanly restanding. He dabbed the bit of sweat off of himself that he  _ did _ work up with a towel before heading over to the table to grab his drink, slamming it down in one go. 

“All done?” she smirked, typing a few more things she had been working on during his session. 

“Yeah,” he said. His stomach growled. 

She eyed said stomach, unsurprised. “Going to call down?”

“Soon,” he said, leaning down to kiss her, rather deeply. She reached up to play with his hair a bit. “Hmm. On second thought, maybe I’ll go get it myself. It might be faster.”

“Look at you, letting the servants have a night off,” she grinned. She knew, though, that he liked to do things himself, too. It made him feel a little less pampered, which he wasn't as fond of these days.

“I’m sure they have enough to do,” he said, tossing his towel in the corner and looking outside; it was a clear night, and not even as cold as it had been, the thermometer reading just around six degrees. He even considered, upon getting back, going to stand on the balcony for a while. 

“Do they still have crepes?”

“They always have crepes.”

“Bring up some of the ones with honey,” she said. They were some of her favorites. Honey was one of her absolute favorite treats, and Adelheid, upon finding out, made it a point to stock several kinds, from abhorrently fancy and expensive to basic, depending on her mood. 

“Of course.” He stretched out. “I’ll just go get it all now, then.”

Not even bothering to dress beyond the loose cargo trousers that he wore-it wasn’t like the owner of the Sky Noah wasn’t allowed to walk around it however well he damn pleased, he just usually  _ chose _ to dress during the day as he knew Henrik and some of the older staff would look at his new jewelry oddly-he started on his way to the kitchens. These were on the second floor, close to the maintenance hall, where much of the Sky Noah’s computers were kept. 

Poking his head into the main room, he waved, expecting to see one of his crew there getting ready for his evening shift. 

The room, however, was oddly empty.

Adelheid frowned. Elias-one of the maintenance crew that had been around for a few years-was not in his usual area doing his nightly routine. 

Every night, around ten o’ clock, Elias would report without fail to the one maintenance area; it was now about twenty past. The Sky Noah had stuff that needed maintaining and surveillance to take care of, and had been his job now for the past three or so years. Adel would often say hi, with Elias giving some sort of comment about him raiding the kitchens yet again. 

There was no food in the room, and he wasn’t in the restroom, either; Adel found this incredibly curious. Upon looking around some more, he could tell had never even shown  _ up _ ...and with that, Adelheid’s keen senses bothered him. There was something, he felt,  _ wrong  _ here. 

Wandering the halls of the Sky Noah for a short bit of time, he didn’t see him in any of the other maintenance rooms, either; he wasn’t even in the corridor that led to the roof. He even asked one of the cooks, and they hadn’t seen him yet. They just figured he may have had something else to take care of for once. 

Due to the feeling in his gut, he decided at that moment to make his way outside toward the surveillance office. He knew that would have been the first place he would have gone, since it was part of the night’s routine. He thought maybe something had been off, and he was hung up there temporarily. It had never happened, but there was a first time for everything, he figured. 

Making sure he had his phone in his pocket at least, he didn’t even bother going back upstairs to grab more clothing. He had considered going to get dressed, but the feeling in his gut drove him outside quickly. While it  _ was _ about six out-warmer than it had been at night-due to his general lack of clothing it was quite chilly. He was too on edge to even notice. 

Making his way through the wet, cold grass underneath the place, he noticed some disturbances, as if someone had come out here. Squinting in the light-there were a few spotlights about-he could see where it looked like someone was definitely walking, as if to go to the garage area.

Moving closer...it was more than one person. 

There should not have been more than one person out here. 

His stomach sinking, he dashed for the outdoor office; he did notice that the door at the side was cracked, where the maintenance workers would come and go. There were generally two or three places set up on extended docking sessions; one or two for vehicles, depending on how many people they would be expecting, and those were larger. There was another, smaller one, that would generally be used for some outdoor surveillance; this was kept triple locked-including with a keycard-and was usually the first thing built up on an extended dock. Whoever was taking a shift would come out here to check things, be it morning or night, and sometimes even spend a bit of time here making sure things were alright. But this was generally done slightly earlier, and Elias should have still been back inside by now. 

He decided to make his way quietly in; sliding inside, he did notice a dim light on over near where some of the terminals were in the corner. He didn’t like the fact the bigger lights were off, which coupled with the open door only meant trouble. 

Pushing against the wall, he made his way across the cold metal floor, squinting to see if he could see anyone. He had no idea where Elias was…

...Until he saw what seemed to be an arm...seemingly attached to someone lying there, behind a desk.

His stomach sinking, he quickly made his way over, on high alert now; before he could see the blood pooling, his fighter’s sense kicked into high gear as he dodged the swinging blade. 

_ Fuck! _ He thought to himself as he dodged another; the man was shorter than him and wiry, dressed in black with a mask around the lower half of his face. 

His hair, however, was exposed...and it looked... _ familiar _ . 

Adelheid wasn’t able to think about it as the man’s speed put him on the defensive; looking down at the corpse of what he knew was Elias, he felt a sudden stab of anger in his chest.

_ They are now trying to infiltrate my home.  _

Leaping backward-landing lightly for a man of his size-he snarled as he recognized the man now; it was one of the five that had been at the Tiger’s Head. Not one of the right-hand burlier ones, but one of the others off to the side. He recognized his head shape and eyes, along with his hair. 

_ Either he wanted me to know who was sending this message, or _ …

The man was smart; seeing Adelheid was lightly dressed, he tried to stab at his chest, and as he dodged that, he tried to clearly go for an Achilles’ strike-without his thick, heavy boots, his legs were more vulnerable. Adel, however, knew this and quickly withdrew his leg, dodging off to the side. He was capable of fighting with little to no protection against armed people-but he gave the man credit for at least trying to take one of his most deadly weapons out of commission.

Feinting, Adelheid swerved to the side, checking his arm with his knee as he spun before sweeping the man’s leg from under him; surprisingly, he landed half on his feet...but was off balance. Adel was impressed with the man’s speed...though as he swung around with another kick, it hit home squarely on the man’s forearm-and Adel could feel it break. One of the blades clattered to the floor.

_ He’s not much for endurance _ , he thought quickly as he continued his assault, as if his deadly kicks couldn’t shatter the bones of almost anyone on contact.

The man only grunted rather loudly; either he had an excellent tolerance for pain, excessive training, or was on some sort of substance. He otherwise stayed silent as he flipped the other blade around, going for two more stabs with the blade out; this time managing to give thin slices to Adelheid’s arm and chest, but he was then tripped up by one of Adel’s sweeps...and due to his previous blow, was unable to recover as quickly. The young man spun again to throw another kick to his chest, solidly connecting with an audible  _ crack _ , sending the man stumbling, stunned and gasping due to his now broken ribs and the fact the wind was knocked out of him. Miraculously, he still stood, though very off balance. The wall had helped him, to be certain. 

In hindsight, Adelheid thought he maybe should have gone for an interrogation, but knowing the man likely wouldn’t have talked as they recognized each other, his anger at the death of one of his people got to him...as it would. 

As the man stumbled, he grabbed his arm, and standing somewhat horizontal to him, swung up with his leg, his foot connecting with his head once...twice...and then three times swiftly; the last had been delayed, almost like Adel had been reconsidering things. The first blow saw his nose smashed in and blood pouring from both that and his mouth; his mask was knocked off, as well. The second heard the clatter of teeth on the floor as more blood-in a thick, viscous stream, poured from his mouth to the floor, as his eyes widened. The third saw his jaw break violently, with even more blood splattering on the walls, the floor, and Adelheid himself. 

Dropping him, the man fell to the ground on his back; still somehow conscious though moaning in pain, staring up at him with more than a bit of fear on his face. Adelheid quickly leapt and came down with his deadly, full force heel drop, finishing the job as it connected squarely between the man’s eyes. 

He had fueled this one with some extra anger. 

That tell-tale hollow, grotesque  _ crunching _ noise followed, and the man added a rather large contribution of blood to the floor, along with some far more... _ disagreeable _ material leaking from his head. Adelheid knew he probably could have ended it a bit faster-the previous kicks were more dressing than anything-but subconsciously, he had wanted to get a few hits in for his man who was lying dead on the floor, only guilty of trying to find out what was wrong. 

He didn’t even realize that he was eerily  _ calm _ about that part. 

Standing-he had essentially left the ground for the killing blow, though managed to hold back somewhat this time in that he did not crush the floor under him-he silently snarled at the assassin before he checked the blades he had in his hands; slim swords that may have been used in ninjutsu. Checking his pockets, he discovered a keycard that he had taken from Elias; breathing a sigh of relief, he knew he only held one, and thus this was likely the only thing he had managed to take. He had no wallet or identification, as he suspected. He didn’t even know his name at the restaurant. There was nothing else on him; not even a phone for communication. He wondered if he hit it somewhere outdoors, but for now there were more important things to worry about. 

Grabbing his phone, he called immediately to Whip. 

“Seirah,” he said. “Get dressed. First, please check on Rose. Then let the guards know. Someone was in the garage. Elias is dead.” 

“Adelheid...wh...what is going on?” She sounded alarmed; he could hear her moving quickly on the line. 

“After that, come down. I’ll explain.”

“Got it. Please be careful.” She hung up immediately. He knew his lover had her training, and she asked questions afterward when something had to be secured. 

Still barely noticing the chill in the place besides the occasional draft from the open door and the cold steel floor, he rubbed his head, wiping some of the blood spatter off of himself. His blows were immeasurably brutal when he had to fight for his life, and there was not a time that he didn’t end up a mess after killing someone. Trailing a fair amount of blood from the corpse over to Elias, he checked the servant. 

He was middle-aged, and was one of the assistant engineers, who mostly specialized in checks, some repairs, and the like; he worked the night shift in the one major computer and maintenance room. He had been killed quickly and cleanly, with a downward stab into the collarbone, probably hitting his heart; there was some blood on the floor near him, but not much-not nearly as much that had come from the man who Adelheid had just crushed. 

The assailant had been pretty good, he had determined. He figured as much, since he had been at the Tiger’s Head that day. There were some small signs of a struggle, he noticed, but that would be more Whip’s expertise than his own. He was a warrior, but he was no crime scene investigator. 

Knowing it would probably take Seirah a few minutes to take care of everything, he tried to piece together what happened, as he closed Elias’ eyes, glaring at the corpse of the man when he did. The amount of blood pooling around his shattered skull now immense; he sort of felt bad for whoever had to collect the corpse tonight. 

He found he almost had to shake off the mild satisfaction that he had felt at that killing blow. 

_ How dare they try to come into what is my home.  _

As he combed over the place, he thought back to how he was not a stranger about these things, but the fact that someone had actually managed to get to the Sky Noah’s location-he would order it to move tomorrow to another place, albeit not too far-meant there was something going on. He  _ suspected _ that he had been trailed the night that he had ended up killing Wilhelm; he was in no place to be careful, and Seirah, as careful as she was, was far more concerned about his state of mind than anything else. It could have been that the man had been trailing  _ Wilhelm  _ at first, and ended up with a bigger bonus later; deciding to follow him back, to come back later for an even bigger payoff.

Nothing else seemed out of sorts in the garage so far, though he imagined Whip would be helping him out with this part. 

Adelheid continued to mill over things as he aimlessly paced in the place until he heard the door open.

“Adel!” Whip yelled, running in. She had a briefcase in her hand; she went up to him to rub his arms, looking around. He felt cold, but she knew he had more important things on his mind than getting actual clothes on before he had run outside. 

“What’s that?” he said. 

“Something to test for explosives,” she said, taking out a brush with some chemical. As she walked over she glanced at poor Elias; he would often greet her if she was going for a late night snack. “I’m so sorry,” she said, looking sadly at Adel. 

He shook his head. “I got the bastard who did it,” he said, glaring a bit at the corpse. The shape of it didn’t phase Whip, though she knew this would take awhile to clean up-at least, she figured, the blood would come off the metal floor easily enough. As she brushed over anything that looked like it could have held an explosive, she looked over at him again.

“Everything is fine inside. All is locked down. They reacted pretty quickly and easily.”

“This isn’t the first time a break-in was attempted.” He folded his arms. “I doubt it’ll be the last.”

“I figured,” she said, trying not to think about the one terrible night, as nothing much needed to be said about that. Brushing over things more, she was pleased to see no sabotage had been likely done; she had told the crew of the Sky Noah to go over everything inside. Being no strangers to dangerous situations, they knew exactly what to do.

“I’m not sure what happened,” Adel started, going over to the computer to check things on it; nothing looked out of sorts. “I imagine the guy figured out where we were staying because he either followed me or Wilhelm to the warehouse…” he trailed off, shaking his head, as Whip started to finish off her testing. “And figured out where we were docked from that. It’s not difficult.”

“Yeah,” she said. “The cloaking works against radar. Not people.” 

“He could have followed me even before that. But Elias would have been out here to do his night-checks, before going to the usual room where we’d see him,” he said. “So he was probably lying in wait. I doubt he was targeting him specifically. Probably wanted his keycard...since it was in his pocket. You really can’t get into the Sky Noah without one of those.”

“How did you know to come here?” Whip said, finishing. She came over, running the swabs through a small reader she had with her. 

“When I was heading to the kitchens to grab some food to take up for us, I noticed Elias wasn’t in his room. He’s...or he  _ was _ , at least... _ always _ there at that time. When I went to the kitchens and came back, he still wasn’t there, and he wasn’t in the bathroom. The engineers know how well this thing has to run...they don’t mess around, especially with safety and surveillance. My gut started telling me something was wrong.”

“Your gut was right,” she said, rubbing his arm for a moment. “Nothing explosive here, by the way,” she said. “As much as I hate to ask this right now…” she added, looking absurdly guilty.

Adel gave her a tiny smile, touching her softly, knowing what she was about to ask. “It’s okay. We need to go through everything. No...Elias was never that type. I am sure of it. Johan, in hindsight, I could see. The others that went bad, I could see. Elias was pretty close with Henrik, despite the fact Henrik is like twenty years older.” He sighed, rubbing his temples. “It’s going to hit him the hardest, I think.” 

“Family?”

“No, that’s one of the things about most of our crew, if you notice. A lot of them had come over without many ties. Probably for the best. I’ll have to look...he may have a sibling or cousins or something, but no one I knew or heard him talk about.”

She looked at him, shaking her head. “He probably barely knew what hit him, judging by the angle. Right into the heart.” Sitting next to him, not even thinking too much about the enormous blood pool around the enemy, she looked at him in the dim light. “Think he had more on him?”

“No, I checked. The assassin came with nothing but his blades. I imagine he wasn’t even here long. But that’s a relief,” he said, sighing again. “I came down...the door was cracked. I saw Elias on the ground and that man jumped out at me almost right away...I don’t think he expected me, though. He was good, I’ll give him that. Fast. Knew what he was doing. He was at the dinner that night we met with Edward.” 

_ He wasn’t near strong enough to take your hits though _ , Whip thought to herself. She could imagine how the fight played out in her head, though she noticed from the blood on the walls that he likely got a few extra hits in; she could see more blood trailing from the bodies to around the place where he had walked after.

“Can you see if there was a scuffle?” he asked. He knew she was good at this sort of thing.

Checking him, she also checked the floor to the best of her ability; the blood had pooled from the dead man’s head badly enough to make things a bit difficult, but after a time, she could see. “I think so,” she said. “It was short, though. So he was surprised.”

She stood...but then noticed the two thin cuts on Adel. Walking over to her case, she took something from it to bring back to wipe them off as he looked up at her, his red eyes altogether sad, confused, and angry. 

“Adel…” she said softly, leaning down to kiss him once on the mouth.

Returning it, he sighed. “I don’t know. Elias didn’t deserve this. They’re coming into my home now, where my people-and  _ my family _ -live. This…” he made a fist, glaring at the man’s ruined corpse. “They’re all dead,” he growled. “Not only for this. For  _ all _ those people.” He was shaking.

“Adel…?” she asked him, somewhat alarmed.

“I’m...fine.” He exhaled heavily.

“How...do you feel?” 

“No...I’m really fine,” he said, blinking. “I...hate what happened here. But I…” he blinked, rubbing his head. 

“You...did it...the feeling...?”

“I don’t think so...I just knew I wanted to get some extra hits in on him before I ended him.” 

Whip nodded grimly. 

“But I feel alright. Full control. He attacked me first, though...when that happens it’s rare anything comes of it.” 

“Still, it’s something.” She began to think more.  _ He had just had the incident with Wilhelm about a week ago. Before him, it had been over a month. I wonder... _

Shaking his head, he gathered up the man’s blades to hand to her; he gently lifted Elias, who was thankfully not too bloody the way he had been stabbed. “I’ll take him inside. Give him to the medical team. They’ll take care of the rest.” He glared at the bloody corpse. “They know what to do about him.”

“Yeah. Let’s get inside. You need a hot shower.”

“Yeah,” he agreed, starting the trek back inside.

\---

Standing in said blessedly hot shower, he had watched as the remnants of the blood ran down the drain immediately upon getting in. Sighing, he had soaped up his body and washed his hair; he now leaned back against the wall, rubbing his neck and mulling everything over. 

_ It could’ve been much worse tonight _ , he thought...he was glad he could still trust his gut, which is what told him to go check outside. Had this man managed to get inside, he likely would have been able to kill several of his staff before the guards had made it to shoot him...unless he managed to take them out, too. He had been quite skilled; able to nick Adelheid during the fight, and he was very good at dodging his blows until he managed to break the man’s arm to slow him down. 

His mind also went back to the kill itself; he kept control...but he did, admittedly, get a few more hits in than he needed. When he had him by the arm, he knew that he could have snapped his neck with a single kick at that point, but seeing his man there dead had sparked that anger in him. He wanted him to hurt first-and die a little nastier afterward. 

But he felt calm. Much like he did after he killed the man who had injured Seirah...though that had been  _ much _ more violent. He had not only smashed his head to pulp, he had cratered the ground underneath; he snapped back and finished the fight with no issue. 

_ Why... _ he thought.  _ Why did this one not affect me...but Wilhelm...who was innocent… _

Catching some of the water that fell in his hand, he finished up so he could dry off; he knew he would have things to do tonight, and that bedtime would likely come rather late. When the man would fail to return, he knew Edward would know what was going on. He had told everyone on his staff that they would be moving tonight, so to get everything ready. He figured the men were already disassembling the outside buildings to store for the trip; they would return more to the northern area, still near Köln, since they still had business there. 

It would, at least, make it so they would have to seek him out again. He didn’t think they would try so soon, but he wanted to take no chances. 

Whip had reported back to Heidern about everything. The authorities had not asked anyone else to step in yet, as after the disaster at the warehouse, nothing else had really happened, so they just continued their investigation as normal. Heidern, she imagined, would report to them with whatever he knew. Moving the Sky Noah was of no issue, as they could still reach it by car or whatever transit they wanted, to continue whatever they would have to. At the moment, she knew her team was on a couple of different assignments. 

Given her closeness to Adelheid, they had put her on whatever she could do here. 

Toweling off his hair as he pat his body dry, he checked himself; he had no wounds beyond the shallow slices. His torso had its share of scars; given he fought up close, basically unarmored beyond his longcoat sometimes, he couldn’t escape injury, though he tried to at least pay more attention to his defense sometimes. 

He knew he  _ should _ , anyway. 

Wandering out with the towel around his shoulders, he saw Whip writing to a few people on her laptop as she turned toward him, smiling sadly. 

“You alright, love?” she asked. 

“Yeah,” he said, grabbing for a clean pair of trousers to throw on as he settled next to her, reaching for the bottle of wine on the table to pour himself a glass to drink off quickly. He smiled softly at her, touching her hand as she turned hers over to take it. “I’m going to check on Henrik tomorrow. I feel...gods, like this is my fault.”

She shook her head. “This was all them. It wasn’t you.”

“I feel like just doing this puts them in danger.”

“I...think they knew that choosing to work here.”

He closed his eyes, sighing. He knew she was right; he had given anyone who wanted to leave freedom to do so-at  _ any _ time. “I need to go talk to Rose...and then, Henrik. I suppose the peaceful sleep wasn’t meant to last more than one night,” he said grimly, pouring another glass of wine for himself before drinking half of it off in a gulp, and sighing. He did not, at least, look like he did this past week; he just looked tired, sad, and angry all at once. 

Getting up, she immediately wrapped her arms around him again, letting him rest his head on her stomach. 

“Seirah…” he said, turning his head to kiss her stomach through her shirt. 

“We’ll get to the bottom of all of this. I told you...I’m always here.”

Closing his eyes as she stroked his damp hair, he simply leaned into her stomach for awhile more silently. He had a fairly long night ahead of him...and he thought he would need all of the comfort he could get for now. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Another pretty big, beefy chapter. 
> 
> The mess with the assassin brings things even more to a crazier place. (And yeah, if you’ve caught other fights, I tend to borrow this one really brutal heel strike he does in the comics for one of his finishing moves. He attempts it more than once and it’s pretty horrible looking in what it does to steel and stone, so I could only imagine what it would do to a guy’s head.) 
> 
> I always imagined-seeing how the Sky Noah would occasionally dock some places in the outskirts in the comics-that they’d likely have a couple of those temporary maintenance buildings set up outside, able to be put up and down. I’m sure his crew is rather extensively trained in things of this nature. I admit I take a lot of liberties with this thing as a *giant, flying, livable airship* isn’t something that exists in real life, heh. So there’s definitely some ‘KOF World Rules’ happening here. (I’ve seen temporary offices set up for construction, at least, IRL.)
> 
> Whip’s mention of ‘crepes with honey’ comes from her favorite food literally being honey. So I imagine she would like anything with it…and because of this, of course, Adelheid had the kitchens with whatever sorts she wanted. He’s in no way one of those sappy, smothering guys, but damned if his lover is going to be without her favorite food. 
> 
> Finally, they may have gotten even closer to ‘figuring out’ things with Adel...


	8. Chapter 8

Knocking on Henrik’s door, Adelheid stood with his hands in his pockets, waiting. He was checking to see how the older head servant was doing after everything. The shadow of guilt hung over him like a dark cloud, and it had all day. 

Henrik and Elias had been fairly close. Despite being about twenty years apart, with Henrik in his mid sixties, they often shared a whiskey or brandy after hours once a week, and had similar tastes, occasionally watching snooker on TV or arguing about something in the papers. 

He answered, giving him a smile and bowing. “Master Adelheid,” he said, opening the door. He had a glass of cognac on the table and a newspaper out. The smile was sad, yet genuine. 

“Hi, Henrik,” he said, walking in and scratching his head. Henrik immediately saw the look on his face-he knew the young man very well-and shook his head.

“It’s not your fault, sir.” 

“I could have gone out...earlier, or something. I…”

Henrik put his hand on his shoulder, a gentle look on his weathered features. “You still seem to think we don’t know the dangers. You let anyone leave voluntarily. Anyone who stayed, stayed for a reason, sir.” He sighed. “I will miss Elias. I will mourn him, like I have mourned some others in the past. And while I am not proud of this fact, I will sleep better knowing that his assailant is dead.”

“Did…”

“I went to see him, yes.” Henrik, while being a nonviolent old man, decided to go pay the assailant a visit in the medical room...that also served as a morgue. While he didn’t spit on the corpse or anything of that sort, he wanted to see the vengeance Adel had dealt to him. It wasn’t the first time he had witnessed what he had done to enemies...not by a longshot. And he doubted it would be his last. 

While the corpse was not in as bad a shape as Johan had been, Adel had certainly been  _ thorough. _

The younger man sighed, his hands still in his pockets. Some of his long bangs fell into his face, almost letting him hide more. 

“Would you like a drink, sir?” He held up a bottle of the rather expensive cognac he was drinking. 

“Sure,” he said, smiling softly. He went to go sit at the table next to him as the older man fixed him a drink. He took it. "Thanks." 

Henrik sipped his, sitting down. The old man was still wearing his suit. “Do you know who was responsible?”

“Yeah,” said Adel, swirling the drink. It was very fine, indeed. Scuffing the floor with his boot-as he would, when he felt either confused or deep in thought-he drank a little. It warmed his throat going down; there were hints of almonds to this one, with a slightly spicy finish. “It was...the people I was involved with. Who tricked me. I imagine they sent someone to try to get inside.”

“What made you go out to check?”

“Just my gut. I saw Elias wasn’t there in his usual spot, and I asked around. When they said he hadn’t shown up from checking the outside office...” He sighed again. “I’m so glad I did. This could have been a lot worse. I  _ need _ to go make this right,” he said, a menacing tone to his voice. He made a fist. “This mess is my fault, and I  _ will _ clean it up.”

“Adelheid…” Henrik did not bother with the formalities this time; he knew he didn’t have to. “Do not put yourself in undue danger. Your sister, and Seirah, would never be able to bear it if something happened.” He sighed. “Neither could we.” 

He looked at Henrik before he spoke. “I don’t fear them. And I  _ have _ to fight. Seirah fights by my side, too. Again, it  _ was my fault _ . I shouldn’t have ever dealt with them. Not without digging deeper.”

“You were betrayed, Adel.” Henrik looked down sadly. Truth be told, his time under Adel had been _far_ less dangerous than under Rugal, who would deal consistently with pretty terrible people. In Adel’s case...they would just slip through the cracks. He wished he could offer the young man more advice, sometimes.

“I know. I know this is all you have known, though I wish it had been different for you. You were forced to take up the mantle of patriarch too young, and that was not fair to you...even if you try to keep your head out of the nastiness. And make no mistake; I am not saying to not take care of the problem...I am simply saying to use caution.” 

“I will,” Adel replied, quietly. He opened and closed his hand as he took another drink. “Are the extra security measures up on the outside buildings?”

“Yes,” he said. “No maintenance crew will go out without an armed guard posted, either.” 

“Thank you,” replied Adel, somewhat relieved about that. They had moved the Sky Noah the previous night, though not too far away; simply to the other side of Köln, a little more out of the way, with some extra groves around. They could still drive into the city proper if necessary. “Haven’t been sleeping much, as you imagine. Been trying to at least pin down where those animals operate out of.”

“Any luck?” 

“A little. Not much, but it’s more than we had before.” He and Whip-with the help of Heidern, the latter doing it on the side and under the radar-had been trying to scout a few areas where they may have a deal going. He had a feeling they were still in Köln, as he figured that’s where their rivals were. Underworld murmurings had mentioned in passing that there was an occasional scuffle here and there at some hot spots, sometimes resulting in one or two dead. 

Adelheid had wondered what the hell he had gotten into the middle of. He feared those ‘small scuffles’ were looking to turn into something bigger and nastier. 

From what everyone was starting to gather, the two syndicates were both utter filth, and they seemed to be in the early stages of what could be a rather spectacular war to find out who got to rule their particular abhorrent area of expertise. Adelheid was mostly only involved in cleaner, though still gray work; so despite his family’s power he was likely not even considered at first, but he had a feeling that perhaps one of them had decided to use his resources to get one up on the other side. 

He swore it would be the last time they _ ever  _ did that. 

Adel had fallen silent; lost in his thoughts, though Henrik let him mull things over, as he would. He had watched the young man grow up, and he knew he was trying hard...but he also could tell whatever dreadful thing he had been fighting inside of himself his whole life had gotten worse. He wasn’t sure exactly what, but that day he had seen the remains of Johan, he was then certain. While he always strongly suspected it, thanks to the incidents with the music, it took seeing him let it loose without any outside influence for him to be sure. 

The traitor’s remains had been in a state that signified Adelheid had gone after him with the specific intent of terrifying him before he crushed him. It resembled some of the remains after his music-driven rages, only it felt even  _ worse _ than that. 

He could only hope Adel found the answer he was looking for. 

“Would you like some more, sir?” he asked after a time. 

“No, thank you,” Adel said, looking at his almost empty glass a moment before finishing the cognac. “I should get back upstairs. Told Seirah I would bring us some food. You can relax tonight.” He closed his eyes. “I’m so sorry.”

Henrik smiled sadly, patting him on the arm. “You worry about yourself, sir. Adelheid. You do what you have to. We will be okay.” 

Adelheid smiled back, running a hand through his hair. “Thanks,” he said, almost sheepishly, quite the contrast of how he could look when he was acting the boss. He stood to head to the kitchens to let them know to bring up a cart for the two of them, before heading to check on Rose-she was asleep early tonight, with Gwan curled up peacefully on the bed near her, so he just let her be-and then finally back to his room, where he shoved the door shut behind him before falling face-first onto the bed. 

Whip looked over at him, a sad smile on her face as she sighed, saving what she was working on to walk over toward him as he lay there, his legs sticking out. She sat next to his head, stroking it as he turned to the side, looking up at her. Stroking his hair for a few more moments, pushing some of it behind his ear, she leaned in to kiss him once. 

“You doing okay?” she asked, softly, after it broke. 

“Yeah…” he replied, sighing. “I got a cart coming up for us. Extra coffee. I am  _ going _ to find out what happened here with these guys.” 

“I know. We will.”

“How is everything around?” He had a feeling he knew, but he figured he would check anyway, since he hadn't gotten to see everyone today. 

“It’s alright. Mood is a little somber, as you can imagine...but they seem used to this.” 

“Unfortunately,” he said, his voice heavy with guilt.

She stroked the side of his face with her hand at that. “More importantly...how do  _ you _ feel?” she asked. 

“As in about...the fight last night?” He could tell by her tone what she was asking. 

She nodded. 

“Fine. Which is the weird thing. I...was angry at him. Seething. I wanted to crush him...so I did. But I...thought little of it. I was just defending my family. My home.” He turned over, sitting up for a moment to pull off his boots, socks, and shirt, tossing them down near the bed, as he leaned back again. Whip smirked at this; while he was usually a fairly neat fellow, he did sort of toss clothes around his room once in a while. “He...looked afraid at the end.”

Whip stroked his hair back again, her other hand rubbing her neck in thought. “Was it like…”

“Johan? Y...yes, actually.”

“Hmm,” she said, now really wondering. She knew that it  _ could  _ have been the assassin had just been terrified since Adelheid had just smashed his face in, left him a stunned, broken and bloody mess, and was about to drive his heel through his head; generally speaking being in such a situation  _ would _ terrify most people. 

But she also knew that it could have certainly been that he  _ controlled _ his dark side again. 

“What are you thinking?” he asked, pushing back a little of her hair with his own hand. 

“You...seemed to be able to control yourself again.”

“I...may have been. I had the...feeling during it, I think? But not afterward. I knew I wanted him dead. For Elias, and to protect everyone else. I considered interrogating him for a moment...but that went away. I wanted to destroy him.”

Sitting with her legs behind her, she stroked his hair back again as he closed his eyes; she knew he liked when she did this when he was feeling somewhat distressed. “It’s strange,” she said. “There is something to it. It’s almost like...you can control it when you’re fighting for something you believe in. Something close to you. Punishing Johan for his betrayal and potential danger to your family and household. Punishing the assassin. Fighting those people who tried to kill us.” She absently touched the scar on her collarbone from that night. 

He opened his eyes, a slightly pained look on his face. “So why did I lose control of it with Wilhelm?” he asked, his voice heavy with emotion. “It’s almost like since I hadn’t actually had to fight for my life for awhile before that night, it just  _ exploded _ with bloodlust. And I couldn’t hold it back. It’s like it  _ twisted my brain _ to believe he was at fault, so I had a reason to kill him. It  _ created  _ a reason. No matter how many times I tried to put it out of my mind. It’s like a...malevolent... _ thing _ inside of me.” 

Whip blinked, her eyes widening slightly in realization. 

_ That...thing in him...the killing spirit…? _

_ Does it…? _

_ “ _ Adel?” she asked, a hesitant tone in her voice. “Did you start feeling anything before the warehouse?”

“I...did,” he said. “Mostly after it all happened. As soon as I got that news...I felt it building up. Scratching at me. It felt like it was scratching at my brain. Like it was trying to escape. I just don’t know why it did it then, and not the other times.” 

“I...couldn’t help but notice. After thinking back. You...normally have to deal with a lot of enemies.”

“Of course,” he sighed, holding her hand. Their fingers interlocked as he ran his thumb over it. "All too often."

“But this was one time where you had been relatively free of them. For a long time. Much longer than normal. No music, no death, no nothing.”

“Yeah. For once.” He blinked suddenly, looking at her...but his expression turned to that of apprehension. The synth music in the background and his heavy breathing were the only other sounds in the room at the moment, as he started to realize. “Does it... _feed_ _on this_?” He sat up. “Does it…” Opening and closing his hands, he blinked, looking over at her, his face still somewhat in disbelief. “Does it feed on violence _?_ Blood? _Death_?”

Whip looked at him sadly, reaching her hand over to rub his arm. 

Neither of them really thought about it much. Adelheid had stopped sort of trying to understand it, since that side of him had only come out before involuntarily with the music. He had figured that it was always a part of him, but so long as he wasn’t under the effect of certain pieces of music from his sister, he was fine-and that was only done during certain...moments of duress on her part, particularly after the secretaries, and when the strange group had come into play. Normally, she didn't have to; enemies would often attack first. He had even had that measure of control of it a couple of times over the past few months. 

That night about a week and a half ago had changed everything. 

But the more he thought about it...the more it  _ made sense _ . 

And he hated it. 

“Do...you mean to tell me this thing is going to  _ make me _ want to kill if I don’t... _ feed it _ ?” he said, a hint of desperation in his voice. “ _ W...why?! _ ” He put his head in his hands, rubbing it. “ _ I...I never wanted this _ ,” he hissed.

Adelheid had no trouble defending his life, or the life of someone he cared for. He also had little trouble doling out punishment to people who he deemed truly despicable. But the idea of being  _ forced _ to kill to quiet whatever the hell it was inside of himself-that had been there his whole life, that was a big part of him--was almost too much. 

Especially knowing that if he didn’t, he could lose control again on someone else who didn’t deserve it. 

Whip turned him toward her, though he had trouble making eye contact. He looked off to the side, as he started to remember that terrible night all over again...and what could possibly transpire if he didn’t figure this side of himself out. 

She slid her hands behind his neck, pressing her forehead to his before she spoke. 

“I know,” she said. “I don’t...know how to suggest you get through it. Or what to do. But I know I’ll be here.”

He smiled sadly at that, kissing her once. “My father had no idea how to use the power given to him. The only time he tried to use it, it destroyed him.” He sat back for a second, looking down. “That time he sent me after the man...I could feel it come out of myself somewhat, I think. There was no music but...given it was my first time having to fight for my life…”

“Did anyone say anything?”

“No,” he said. “They thought it was expected of me.” Looking off to the side again, he scratched his head. “I...think I need to go off for awhile. Be alone for a bit.”

“Of course,” she said. She leaned forward to meet him in a kiss; it deepened, with his hand sliding into her hair. It took several moments to break. She then watched him stand; not even bothering getting the rest of his clothes on, he headed out of the room. She wasn’t sure if he was going to the Sky Noah’s gym, or even outside; tonight was a couple of degrees warmer than the night before, even, and it seemed the chillier weather didn’t bother him. 

Sighing deeply, she stood to pour herself a glass of wine as she went to look out the window absently. 

As terrifying as Adelheid could be to his enemies-namely people who would make attempts on his life or the life of the people close to him, or those truly despicable members of the black market underworld that he tried to distance himself from-he was still gentle deep down. He far preferred fighting for fun; he was simply forced to fight for his life often. He was brutal, to be sure, against people who  _ insisted _ on being his enemy...but it was almost like he wanted to send a very clear message for them to  _ stop _ . 

But she knew how gentle he was with how he treated her; how he would try to get through to his sister these days, and how he treated her growing up-she had seen the pictures. The way he would play with Gwan; he’d be on the floor, letting him pounce on him while he’d swat the cub over with his hand for belly rubs, lightly wrestling him. She would often join, letting the little beast chase her whip around. 

That was not a man who  _ wanted _ to kill anyone. Neither did she; she only did so when she had to, as well. None of her team enjoyed it. She remembered the time Adelheid had told her about the time they had first exchanged words; Heidern had seen him brutally take out an enemy with a gun in an alley, and had told him that he, too, had to kill men who pointed weapons at him with the intent to kill. 

She also remembered Heidern’s words that other day when he had discovered them coming back from their first date, what seemed to be ages ago now;  _ “The gods visit the sins of the fathers upon the children.” _

_ It’s unfair.  _ Whip clenched her fist, looking at it sadly. He wasn’t perfect. She knew he had flaws. He tended to refuse help fairly often, and he somehow insisted in keeping a leg into the gray market, even though he didn’t have to; something about trying to keep his family’s legacy at least somewhat intact in a way that he could stomach. He stepped out of the black market, to be sure, and tried to be careful about his dealings, but he could probably leave it all behind if he wanted...but he was somehow almost  _ compelled _ to, as the new patriarch. He could be stubborn and impulsive, and he feared nothing except losing people close to him. 

She also knew that sometimes, the fact he would have to fight for his life was caused by his own actions; while he never intended it, that impulsive nature would cause him to deliver punishment-albeit non-lethal-to opposing factions, causing them to want to seek revenge on him in worse ways. And he  _ did  _ confess to her that he relished every blow on the man who had come close to cutting her throat. 

She knew, though, that was an exception rather than the rule. 

But she loved him dearly. She knew how much he loved her, and it killed her inside to see him like this; having to deal with a power inside of him that wasn’t going anywhere. He had told her he felt he had a grasp of it after Johan, but clearly, it wasn’t all there yet. He had seemingly missed... _ something  _ about it. 

It’s ability-or need-to... _ feed _ . It sounded absurd to her, but she could not think of any other way to explain it. While it may have come originally from Goenitz giving his father a taste of the power, whatever had passed onto Adelheid was not the same as Iori, or Leona, or anyone else tied to it had. It had seemed to form into its own thing. From what, no one knew. 

But that mattered less than figuring out how to control it.

Looking at her empty glass-she had been lost in her thoughts for a while-she walked over to get more, when she saw Gwan padding into the room, seemingly looking for his other master. One of the servants dropped off the rather full heated cart of food, nodded to Whip, and shut the door behind him. 

“Hey, buddy,” she said, a smirk on her face. “I don’t think we have any food for you, unless you sit around for leftovers. The big guy is out for now.”

He answered by uttering a little sound that was somewhere between his attempt at a growl and a trill as he wound over to her instead. 

“Is Rose okay?” she asked. 

Gwan continued to wind around her legs, until she sat on the floor to scratch him. She placed her wine glass back on the table above after taking a sip. 

“I’ll take that as a yes,” she replied, smiling softly as she pet the cub’s silky fur. 

After some time of scratching the panther-who had decided to settle next to her for awhile, purring, almost sensing her melancholy-she saw Adelheid wander back in. He had seemingly spent a bit of time outside, though she wasn’t sure where else he went. Shutting the door behind him, he smiled softly down at Gwan, sitting next to her with the cub between them. He hopped immediately on Adel’s lap, kneading his rather large paws, causing the young man to grimace a bit. 

“Watch it, boy,” he said, scratching him with a chuckle; he took the cub's head in his hands and nuzzled his snout. He looked at Whip, a slightly more content look on his face, though he still looked somewhat apprehensive. Gwan curled up between them again.

She took his free hand in both of hers, kissing it. “You alright?” 

“Yeah,” he said, sighing. “But...I thought it over.” He picked his hand up to touch her face a bit, watching her silently for a few moments. “I’m going to set up a meeting with Edward’s rivals.” 

Whip blinked, cocking her head to the side, confused. She knew they were just as evil as Edward’s group. “You aren’t considering…”

He shook his head quickly. “No. That’s not why,” he said, looking at her. His eyes had a steely-even a bit cold-look. 

It quickly clicked in her mind what he meant to do. 

“You aren’t doing this alone.”

“I don’t want to drag-”

She stopped his mouth with a kiss; it was her way of silencing him if he insisted on being stubborn about something. “You aren’t dragging me. Besides...how did you plan on surveying everything beforehand? You aren't patient enough to do recon yourself to make sure the area is secure.”

He scratched his head, looking off to the side. 

“There you go, being impulsive again.” She folded her arms. 

He blinked, though smiled. “I know. Besides...fighting alongside you…” he trailed off. 

“I have to ask...what…how did you decide…”

He sighed. “I don’t know if...this is what it needs. But both Edward’s group and his rivals are despicable, murdering, scum.” His face grew dark, and he opened and closed his fists, clenching them in front of him as he exhaled before looking back at Whip.

“If I need to deal with this-in  _ this _ way-then I will make the world a bit of a better place while I do it.”

“What about Edward’s syndicate?” she asked, knowing full well what he meant. 

His eyes flashed with what almost resembled a menacing spark. 

“They’ll be next.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So a question that may come up at this point: “So HOW does Adel get away with some of his more underworld stuff? Like the time where he and Whip had to take out the syndicate?” 
> 
> Well for one, his family is *powerful.* The influence of the Bernsteins has not dwindled; this is a family with resources to build a stadium for a tournament *on demand.* Rugal could influence governments. Cleaning up a few messes of what most would consider underworld scum is probably small potatoes; plus, the KOF universe does I think work on its own world’s rules(I notice, for example, in a lot of the lore, the underworld stuff is a little more prevalent.) There are secret bases in space with lasers, and people who influence entire cities. 
> 
> On the Ikari’s side, I doubt ‘having to kill a criminal syndicate in self defense’ is going to do anything with the actual authorities; just get people on them that want revenge, maybe. Heidern can assassinate NESTS villains with little issue, but I can see them at least having to abide by some international laws(like how they couldn’t get fully involved in the Köln investigation...even though they still did a little behind the scenes.) 
> 
> As for the power; with the manhua’s translated nickname of the ‘killing spirit’, I started to form a headcanon that it was something that was almost compelled to thrive on death, and the fact it’s attached to someone like Adelheid adds another layer of tragedy. (I figured since the game never really explained the power Rugal had gotten, I could take some liberties. After all, that’s what fanfic is about.)

**Author's Note:**

> The dog racing thing, as innocuous as it sounds, actually came up in passing in KOFXIII; even though much of this ‘verse takes place roughly during XI, they had a bunch of records as such in the Sky Noah, and thus it was clear they were still involved with things like that(and it fits a sort of rich person’s sport.) So I started to imagine them sort of going along with things like this, possibly even having their own bunch of pedigrees or something they owned, but I didn’t go that far with it. It’s a sort of ‘cleaner’ shady biz, I imagine, which is what they sort of seem to be running these days without Rugal there. So the dog races aren’t just a weird excuse cover; they seemed to actually be involved with things like that, thus it being a fairly easy tie-in. 
> 
> As much as Adelheid wouldn’t mind just pulling out of stuff, someone with his family’s sort of influence is almost caught up; thus, he’s just choosier on who he deals with these days. Plus, he does love his remaining family-which is his sister, but still-and he does want to keep the name in a respectable standing with the government as well. Keeping powerful does that. (The KOF world, I imagine, is a little different from the real world, from everything I’ve seen in the lore. I mean besides the mystical gates and weird powers.) 
> 
> Gwan is basically Rodem Jr. The smaller panther you see in the later games.


End file.
